Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,208 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.8% of Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,607,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 14,492 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,986,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Prairie Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 99.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prairie Advisory LLC now owns 17,102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,885,000 after acquiring an additional 8,529 shares during the period. OceanIQ Capital LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. OceanIQ Capital LLC now owns 21,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,597,000 after acquiring an additional 3,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 4,920 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,693,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud and AI demand remain key bullish factors. Coverage highlights accelerating Google Cloud growth, expanding demand for AI infrastructure, and Alphabet’s Gemini models and in-house chips as potential drivers of future revenue and margins. OpenAI’s decision to make its models available through Google Cloud could also increase enterprise cloud usage. OpenAI to bring AI models to Google’s cloud
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts see substantial upside. Bullish commentary points to strong search and cloud fundamentals, a lower valuation than many large technology peers, and potential upside if Alphabet demonstrates that AI spending is translating into durable growth. TikTok’s reported shift of advertising toward YouTube may provide an additional, though smaller, benefit. Alphabet could still have room to run
• Positive Sentiment: Citizens JMP maintained an outperform rating. The firm lowered its price target from $515 to $450, but the revised target still implies considerable potential appreciation from current levels. Banking giant cuts Google stock price target

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $435.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 target price (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Yorkville Ives started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $425.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 315,765 shares of company stock valued at $6,297,980 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $324.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.21. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $251.85 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $343.31 and a 200 day moving average of $353.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.