Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is Vanguard Group Inc.’s 9th Largest Position

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 412,885,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,867,485 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.5% of Vanguard Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $100,558,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2,134.8% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 45,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,984,000 after acquiring an additional 43,080 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 354,529 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,345,000 after purchasing an additional 84,553 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 170,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 157,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,272,000 after purchasing an additional 3,444 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank of Texas purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $900,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Canaccord Genuity lifted its price target after stronger‑than‑expected Q4 and faster Gemini adoption, signaling analyst confidence that AI monetization will lift revenue and margins. Canaccord raises PT
• Positive Sentiment: Big commercial wins and commitments: Alphabet announced a $15B America‑India Connect AI/fiber initiative and has new partnerships (Zillow integration with NotebookLM, a tie‑up with Sea) that extend Gemini/Cloud into vertical offerings — good for long‑term cloud & AI revenue. America-India Connect
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying from notable managers (Appaloosa/Tepper, Altimeter, Viking and others) signals conviction among some large investors that Alphabet is a core AI winner. That buying can support the stock around earnings and execution milestones. Appaloosa boosts stake
• Neutral Sentiment: Gemini consumer demos — e.g., an AI “cricket coach” showcased on CNBC — are positive PR for user engagement but are not immediate revenue drivers; they show product momentum more than financials. CNBC Gemini demo
• Neutral Sentiment: Product cadence: Google launched the $499 Pixel 10a with new AI features — supports consumer distribution of AI but low‑end device upgrades are incremental for overall revenue. Pixel 10a launch
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Alphabet senior exec John Kent Walker disclosed a large sale (~47,574 shares at ~$301.45), which markets often interpret as modestly negative near‑term signal. Insider sale filing
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple funds trimmed Alphabet stakes (including Pershing Square, Longview and others) per recent filings — increased selling from institutions can weigh on intraday liquidity and sentiment. Pershing Square trim
• Negative Sentiment: Security/legal risk: Three engineers were charged with allegedly stealing Google trade secrets and sending data to Iran — a reputational and IP risk that could trigger regulatory scrutiny or operational distractions. Trade-secrets indictment
• Negative Sentiment: Execution risk from supply constraints: Google DeepMind’s CEO warned that a memory‑chip shortage is constraining agentic AI research/deployment — could slow rollout cadence or raise costs in the near term. DeepMind supply comment

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total value of $10,637,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,211,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $723,945,705.60. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 2,079,982 shares of company stock worth $109,267,889 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $303.56 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $350.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $320.86 and a 200-day moving average of $278.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The company 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%.Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho set a $325.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $370.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.90.

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.