Wedmont Private Capital Purchases 4,990 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 101,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,990 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.9% of Wedmont Private Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,371 shares during the period. Alaethes Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the first quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,546,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $448,684,000 after buying an additional 56,295 shares during the period. Moment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Alphabet from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.90.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. This represents a 16.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 226,128 shares of company stock valued at $63,183,331. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $307.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business’s 50-day moving average is $289.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.27. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $328.83.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud locked an expanded, multibillion-dollar strategic deal with Palo Alto Networks — reported by Reuters as “approaching $10 billion” — which materially strengthens Cloud revenue outlook and security services momentum. Google Cloud lands deal with Palo Alto Networks
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $350 and kept a Buy rating — a notable analyst upgrade that signals upward earnings/valuation expectations and supports short‑term buying interest. Citigroup adjusts price target on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Google reports strong talent flows in AI — ~20% of 2025 AI software engineer hires were “boomerangs” (ex‑employees) — which investors view as a competitive advantage in the AI arms race vs. OpenAI/Anthropic/Meta. Google’s boomerang year
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/trading signals flagged a Power Inflow alert (benzinga), which can attract short‑term momentum traders but is not a fundamental catalyst. GOOG Hits Intraday High After Key Trading Signal
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage and thematic stories (Zacks, cloud lists, MarketBeat pieces) are keeping retail/institutional attention on GOOGL as a core cloud and AI holding — supporting flows but not an immediate earnings surprise. Alphabet is a trending stock (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: A Spanish consumer group has launched preliminary legal action alleging sensitive data collection and privacy violations — an escalation that could lead to fines or longer-term compliance costs. Spanish consumer group seeks to sue Google in data row
• Negative Sentiment: Mexico’s antitrust authority ordered Google to drop certain Android restrictions — another regulatory action that can pressure mobile‑related revenue/margins and raises the risk of further regional remedies. Mexico’s antitrust commission resolves Android case
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider stock sales were disclosed this week (CEO Sundar Pichai and other executives/directors sold shares), which can be viewed negatively by some investors even if sales are routine or for diversification/tax reasons. SEC filing: Sundar Pichai insider sale

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.