Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 230,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 28,813 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 4.0% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $56,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $31,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Corsicana & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 37.9% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, S&T Bank PA lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 40.2% during the second quarter. S&T Bank PA now owns 345 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $310.90 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $320.47 and its 200 day moving average is $281.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $349.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,798,832.60. This trade represents a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock worth $119,145,289 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. President Capital upped their price objective on Alphabet from $323.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Alphabet from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.57.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets provide near-term support — Loop Capital raised its price target to $355 and Wells Fargo moved to a more constructive stance, boosting buy-side momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo commercialization expands — Waymo is rolling out robotaxi service to multiple new U.S. markets (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Orlando), which supports a pathway to revenue growth for Alphabet’s autonomous-vehicle unit. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Big data-center energy deals lower operational risk for AI/cloud buildout — Google announced a 1.9GW clean-power-backed Minnesota project that includes a 300MW / 100-hour battery, and utilities/energy firms signed long-term supply deals for new Google sites, improving power resiliency for Cloud/AI capacity. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Hidden assets and ecosystem stakes add optionality — Alphabet’s strategic holdings (notably ~14% of Anthropic and an early SpaceX stake) plus Gemini integrations (including reported Apple interest) are underappreciated upside drivers for Cloud, AI licensing and potential mark-to-market gains. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry capex race: Bridgewater sees ~$650B in Big Tech AI investment for 2026 — this underscores continued capacity expansion that benefits hyperscalers but increases execution/timing uncertainty. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: AI chip competition heats up — WSJ coverage highlights intensifying GPU/custom-chip rivalry (Google vs. Nvidia and others), a structural trend that affects margins, procurement and product differentiation. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable investor rotations and selling — reports show Renaissance trimmed a large position (~$700M sale) and some high-profile funds reduced exposure, which can weigh on intraday flows and dampen momentum. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and regulatory risks persist — Klarna expects a Swedish court verdict related to Google patents on April 15, adding event risk for the stock. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: AI capex funded with debt raises investor caution — coverage warns hyperscalers (including Alphabet) are increasing AI-related spending and in some cases using debt, which shifts risk and could pressure valuations if returns take longer than expected. Read More.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.