41,767 Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,867 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 41,767 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.4% of Sterling Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $70,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Premier Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 180 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Zacks Research downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective (down from $385.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group set a $332.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Alphabet from $410.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, DZ Bank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $410.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 247 shares of company stock valued at $79,238 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.4%

GOOGL opened at $279.84 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $270.70 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $339.07 and its 200 day moving average is $340.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.64.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.02 by ($0.90). Alphabet had a return on equity of 43.33% and a net margin of 50.03%. The firm had revenue of $127.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.96 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.40 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

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.