Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock: WealthCare Asset Management LLC Decreases Position

WealthCare Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 41.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,571 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,793 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.8% of WealthCare Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. WealthCare Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Premier Financial Group acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Van Den Berg Management I Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 319.6% during the 1st quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 214 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $280.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 2.79. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $270.70 and a one year high of $408.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $336.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $339.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.02 by ($0.90). Alphabet had a net margin of 50.03% and a return on equity of 43.33%. The company had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.96 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 4.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Freedom Capital upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $410.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price (down from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $412.51.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue more than doubled year over year in the latest quarter, and its reported backlog was about $561 billion, highlighting strong enterprise demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is in preliminary discussions related to the U.S. “Golden Dome” defense initiative. A contract could create a new, recurring revenue stream and help monetize its infrastructure investments, though no deal has been confirmed. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google plans to make its AI tools opt-in for K-12 students, responding to concerns from educators and policymakers. Reports that restricting AI could also limit Search have drawn political criticism, creating reputational risk while the company adjusts its school policies. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent earnings concerns continue to weigh on the outlook: Alphabet missed quarterly EPS expectations, Search growth slowed, and AI-generated results may produce less advertising revenue than traditional Search. ChatGPT’s search volume is also reported at roughly 20% of Google’s, underscoring competition for users. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy AI infrastructure spending pushed free cash flow negative, and management expects capital expenditures to rise further. That raises questions about when the investment will generate sufficient returns and may help explain continued pressure on the shares after earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms publicized an existing securities class action concerning alleged statements about Gemini 3.5 Pro training results. The repeated notices do not indicate separate new cases, but the litigation could add legal and reputational risk. Read More.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 247 shares of company stock valued at $79,238 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.