Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Hosking Partners LLP

Hosking Partners LLP cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 516,567 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,940 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.6% of Hosking Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Hosking Partners LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $125,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. WestEnd Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 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: Apple chose Google’s Gemini to power next‑generation Siri, creating a multi‑year licensing relationship that provides Google a large, high‑margin cloud customer and distribution into ~2bn Apple devices—an immediate revenue and strategic moat boost. Google and Apple enter into multi-year AI deal for Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: Market optimism around AI and stronger cloud execution pushed Alphabet into the $4 trillion valuation club, reinforcing investor confidence that Gemini and Google Cloud can materially reshape growth and margins. Alphabet hits $4 trillion valuation as AI refocus lifts sentiment
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and sell‑side shops are raising targets and reiterating the bull case (TD Cowen raised its target to $355 and Jefferies highlighted the company’s data moat and cloud upside), supporting near‑term buy interest. TD Cowen raises price target Jefferies: data moat & cloud growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Market positioning and option flows show some traders view GOOG as still relatively undervalued to analyst targets; short‑dated put selling has been productive, which can moderate volatility but also signals crowded bullish positioning. Put yields and undervaluation note
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet plans to develop and manufacture high‑end smartphones in Vietnam this year—a strategic supply‑chain/production move that diversifies hardware execution but is not an immediate earnings driver. Google to develop, manufacture phones in Vietnam
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors and analysts warn valuation is stretched after a strong 2025 rally; several notes have shifted from “strong buy” to “buy” citing compressed upside and that much of the AI upside may already be priced in. Seeking Alpha: downgrade to Buy on valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Some funds trimmed GOOGL holdings in recent filings (reported reductions by a few managers), which could add selling pressure if larger managers follow suit; public criticism from industry figures (e.g., Elon Musk) adds headline noise but is unlikely to change fundamentals. Fund filing: Davenport trims GOOGL Musk criticizes Apple‑Google deal

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $318.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total transaction of $31,971.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,706,357.25. The trade was a 0.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 192,087 shares of company stock worth $58,525,556 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $336.43 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $309.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $252.82. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $341.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Alphabet Company 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.