Wedbush Securities Inc. Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,398 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,222 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Wedbush Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.0% in the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,697,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 7.4% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 594,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $105,540,000 after buying an additional 41,132 shares during the period. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the second quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,227 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekside Partners raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Creekside Partners now owns 3,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue jumped ~48% year-over-year, reinforcing enterprise demand and monetization of AI products — a clear growth driver for Alphabet. Google (GOOGL) Cloud Revenue Just Surged 48% And May Have Delivered Knockout Blow To OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Several sell-side firms raised price targets after Q4 results (Piper Sandler, KeyBanc), signaling analyst confidence in the company’s AI/cloud trajectory. Piper Sandler and KeyBanc Raise Alphabet (GOOGL) Price Targets After Q4 Results
• Positive Sentiment: High-level AI visibility: CEO Sundar Pichai and other executives are attending a major global AI summit in India, keeping Alphabet front-and-center in enterprise and geopolitical AI discussions. From OpenAI to Google, India hosts global AI summit
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary frames the recent pullback as a potential buying opportunity given strong fundamentals (support near $300–$280), which could attract long-term buyers if the technical levels hold. Alphabet’s Pullback: A Second Chance for Long-Term Investors?
• Neutral Sentiment: Options and volume signals suggest “calm waters” and limited urgency from smart-money traders — some see it as a contrarian options trade rather than a directional sell-off. Calm Waters for Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) Stock Present a Tempting Options Trade
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data in the feed is effectively zero/invalid for the period provided and is not a meaningful driver today.
• Negative Sentiment: Management guided sharply higher 2026 capital expenditures (~$175–$185B) to scale AI compute and cloud — investors are worried this will compress free cash flow, increase debt issuance, and pressure near-term returns. This Key Metric for Amazon and Alphabet Will Take a Huge Hit in 2026 Thanks to Massive AI Spending. Here’s What It Means for Investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy insider selling and social-media/retail sentiment shifts after the earnings/capex print have amplified downside momentum and profit-taking. Alphabet Stock (GOOG) Opinions on Q4 Earnings and AI Capex Surge

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of GOOG opened at $306.02 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $350.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $276.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,179,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,481,906.96. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total transaction of $202,512.00. Following the sale, the director owned 21,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,163,524.48. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,064,308 shares of company stock worth $104,383,469 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.90.

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.