Sowell Financial Services LLC Sells 8,399 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Sowell Financial Services reduced its Alphabet stake by 8.4% in the third quarter, selling 8,399 shares and retaining 91,561 shares valued at approximately $31.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 40.03% of Alphabet.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $410.46, despite several firms lowering their targets.
• Alphabet’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, with earnings of $2.12 per share and revenue of $127.58 billion. Google Cloud growth and AI demand support the outlook, but heavy infrastructure spending, weaker-than-expected Search monetization and regulatory pressures remain concerns.

Sowell Financial Services LLC lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 91,561 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,399 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.0% of Sowell Financial Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $41,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Premier Financial Group purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Van Den Berg Management I Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 319.6% during the first quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 214 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank raised Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $417.00 to $371.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 price objective (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $420.00 to $410.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $410.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 247 shares of company stock worth $79,238. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $279.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $339.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $340.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $270.70 and a 12 month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by ($0.90). The business had revenue of $127.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $127.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 50.03% and a return on equity of 43.33%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue more than doubled year over year to approximately $30.7 billion, while its backlog reached $561 billion. The results support Alphabet’s position as a major beneficiary of enterprise AI demand. Alphabet's Cloud Business Just Doubled
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain constructive after the selloff. Guggenheim and Needham reaffirmed “buy” ratings with $450 targets, while Citigroup and Wells Fargo retained bullish ratings and projected substantial upside despite lowering their targets.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI ecosystem could gain from rising demand for cloud capacity and specialized chips. Waymo is also expanding internationally through a partnership with Toyota, although the business remains small relative to Alphabet’s core operations. Waymo taps Toyota to supply robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple securities law firms publicized class-action lawsuits and lead-plaintiff deadlines tied to alleged disclosures about Alphabet’s Gemini AI development. These notices add headline risk, but their direct financial impact remains uncertain.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet reported adjusted earnings of $2.12 per share, below consensus near $2.94-$3.02, while revenue of $127.6 billion also missed expectations. Search and other revenue grew about 12% to roughly $63 billion, but fell short of forecasts, reinforcing fears that AI-generated answers and “AI mode” searches may monetize less effectively than traditional Search.
• Negative Sentiment: AI infrastructure spending caused free cash flow to remain negative by roughly $9.1 billion for a second consecutive quarter. Investors are questioning whether the enormous capital outlays will produce adequate returns and whether Alphabet may need additional debt or equity financing.
• Negative Sentiment: An unrealized loss on Alphabet’s SpaceX investment reduced quarterly earnings by approximately $0.55 per share, while an EU antitrust fine further pressured results. Analysts including RBC, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Wedbush, KeyCorp and Cantor Fitzgerald lowered price targets, even though most maintained positive ratings.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known for its Google subsidiary. Google operates a global internet-services business centered on online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a broad range of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools.

Google Cloud provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software services to businesses, governments, and other organizations. Alphabet also develops consumer hardware, including Pixel devices and products for connected homes, while investing in emerging businesses through its “Other Bets” segment, including autonomous transportation and life sciences initiatives.

Alphabet was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring that made Google a subsidiary and provided a separate structure for its expanding portfolio of businesses.

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