PFG Investments LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,368 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,824 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.9% of PFG Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Matisse Capital increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 14,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Breakwater Investment Management grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 4,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fonville Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total value of $10,893,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,179,372 shares in the company, valued at $730,481,906.96. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total transaction of $202,512.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,224 shares in the company, valued at $7,163,524.48. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,067,686 shares of company stock valued at $105,352,291. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q4 estimates with $113.8B revenue, $2.82 EPS, huge Google Cloud growth (48% y/y) and milestone annual revenue above $400B — evidence that AI and ads are driving durable top‑line momentum. Alphabet Crushes Earnings Again, Reports 48% Cloud Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini/product adoption and a surging cloud backlog (reported at ~$240B) support longer‑term revenue leverage from AI investments — a structural growth argument investors and many analysts are citing. Google goes from laggard to leader as it pulls ahead of OpenAI with stellar AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokers raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views after the quarter (e.g., Citigroup, JPMorgan, RBC, Needham, Mizuho), providing analyst support under the share price. Multiple analyst price target raises (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest data shows no meaningful short position change (reads as negligible/quiet on short‑selling activity), so moves are likely driven by flows and sentiment rather than a short squeeze.
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF/sector flows and inclusion chatter (new Big Tech ETFs) can amplify moves in GOOGL but are not company‑specific catalysts. Big Tech Core: New Burney ETF Packs Apple, Nvidia, Google, Broadcom Punch
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet guided to $175–$185B of capex for 2026 (aimed at AI compute and cloud), a shockingly large jump that has investors fretting about near‑term free cash flow and returns on incremental AI spend — the dominant proximate cause of recent weakness. Alphabet resets the bar for AI infrastructure spending (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market narrative: fears about excessive AI capex are prompting a tech sell‑off (FactSet noted >$1T wiped from big‑tech), which weighs on Alphabet alongside company‑specific capex concerns. Big Tech sees over $1 trillion wiped from stocks as fears of AI bubble ignite sell-off
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was reported after the quarter, adding near‑term pressure on sentiment. Alphabet Shares Down After Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Employee protests over Google Cloud contracts with immigration agencies pose reputational/legal risk that can create headline volatility. Google Workers Demand End to Cloud Services for Immigration Agencies

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Arete Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 target price (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.46.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $322.86 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $349.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Alphabet Profile

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.