Gradient Investments LLC Acquires 5,484 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 101,410 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,484 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $41,000. Premier Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Alphabet from $395.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, DA Davidson set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $425.72.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $3.21 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $347.29. 11,985,643 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,708,883. The business’s fifty day moving average is $345.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $348.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $235.84 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the sale, the director owned 19,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 441,399 shares of company stock worth $8,677,053 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google introduced a new Gemini agent capable of completing tasks across workplace applications, strengthening Alphabet’s competition with OpenAI and Microsoft for enterprise AI customers. Google Escalates the AI Agent Wars With Its New Gemini Agent
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Isomorphic Labs is reportedly seeking a valuation of at least $40 billion—and potentially $50 billion—in a new funding round, highlighting the value investors place on its AI drug-discovery assets. Alphabet’s Isomorphic Labs seeks valuation of at least $40 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Waymo secured a $5 billion loan from Blackstone, PIMCO and Sixth Street to fund robotaxi expansion, providing additional capital for a potentially significant future business. Waymo locks in $5B loan
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reaffirmed its Buy rating and set a $450 price target, while other recent commentary points to Alphabet’s relatively modest valuation, strong margins and potential AI-related upside.
• Positive Sentiment: A new Google-Unity AI gaming platform could expand Google Play’s creator ecosystem, although the commercial impact remains early-stage. Google and Unity Team to Let Users Build Their Own Games
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s long-term nuclear power agreements with Constellation support reliable electricity for data centers and AI workloads, but they also imply substantial future infrastructure and energy costs. Google Signs Nuclear Deal With Constellation Energy
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms announced or promoted securities class actions alleging Alphabet misled investors about the timing and performance of Gemini 3.5 Pro. The notices identify May 19–July 16, 2026 as the relevant period and publicize lead-plaintiff deadlines in late November and early December. These are allegations, not findings of wrongdoing, but the repeated announcements create headline and potential litigation risk. Alphabet investor class action announcement

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology and internet services company best known as the parent company of Google. Its primary business, Google Services, includes online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a range of hardware and subscription products.

Alphabet also operates Google Cloud, which provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, productivity software, and artificial intelligence services to businesses, governments, and other organizations.