Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Position Lowered by LS Investment Advisors LLC

LS Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 147,676 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,367 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 5.1% of LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $35,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Nova Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5,585.7% during the 1st quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 398 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 10.8% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 84,584 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,215,000 after acquiring an additional 8,252 shares during the period. Integrity Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% during the first quarter. Integrity Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 46,462 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,259,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,940 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,178,000 after buying an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets boost upside expectations for GOOG, with Canaccord and others lifting targets well above prior levels — a direct catalyst for buying interest. Canaccord Raises PT to $390
• Positive Sentiment: AI product momentum: reports show Gemini gaining share versus ChatGPT and Gemini-powered features rolling into Gmail at scale — this supports stronger ad/search monetization and cloud expectations. Gemini Gains Market Share
• Positive Sentiment: Market-cap milestone: Alphabet briefly overtook Apple as the world’s No.2 public company — a sign of investor confidence that can attract index/ETF flows and reinforce momentum. Alphabet Surpasses Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Wiz acquisition pending EU approval by Feb.10 — approval would remove a large M&A overhang; rejection would be a setback. Outcome is material but binary. EU to Decide on Wiz Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo branding/product updates signal long-term autonomy growth but limited near-term EPS impact; watch commercialization cadence. Waymo Rebrands Robotaxi
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/reputational pressure: three Democratic senators urged Apple and Google to suspend X and Grok from their app stores over sexualized images of minors created via AI — a headline that raises moderation/regulatory scrutiny for app stores and Google’s ecosystem. Senators Call to Suspend X and Grok
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure from AI products: Alphabet and Character.AI settled suits alleging AI chatbots harmed minors (including a teen suicide), underscoring potential costs, regulation and reputational risk. AI Lawsuit Settlements
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and talent movement: CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed a multi-million-dollar share sale; separately, Nvidia hired a Google marketing veteran — both can weigh on near-term sentiment and raise questions about insider cashing and talent retention. Pichai Share Sale

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $592,760,192.85. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 227,965 shares of company stock worth $67,495,822. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.18.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $329.29 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $331.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.47. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.