New York Life Investment Management LLC Trims Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

New York Life Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 822,975 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 28,004 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.8% of New York Life Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $200,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $21,944,208,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17,667.7% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,686,640,000 after purchasing an additional 15,159,273 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 51.7% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,607,232,000 after purchasing an additional 10,843,853 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $91,033,300,000 after purchasing an additional 6,733,278 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Alphabet by 201.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,547,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,153,824,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374,542 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded Alphabet, citing that the company has “three key traits of an AI winner” — an analyst upgrade that supports the AI-led growth narrative and can boost investor confidence. Wells Fargo upgrades Google parent Alphabet, says it has ‘3 key traits of AI winner’
• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital raised its price target on GOOGL to $355 and kept a Buy rating — a notable analyst vote of confidence implying meaningful upside from current levels. Loop Capital adjusts price target on Alphabet to $355
• Positive Sentiment: Product and AI momentum: Google launched Lyria 3 (music-generation) in beta and is getting picked as a top growth stock by some outlets — incremental product wins that reinforce Alphabet’s AI growth story and monetization pathways. Alphabet (GOOGL) Expands AI Reach Amid Market Debate
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry capex backdrop: Bridgewater estimates Big Tech will invest about $650B in AI infrastructure in 2026 — a structural tailwind for Alphabet’s cloud and AI services, though it also heightens competition and capacity risk. Big Tech to invest about $650 billion in AI in 2026, Bridgewater says
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports say Apple may pay to use Alphabet’s Gemini in Siri and Waymo clarified robotaxi remote‑driving practices — potential commercial upside and regulatory clarification, but still subject to confirmation and regulatory scrutiny. Alphabet Sits At Center Of AI And Robotaxi Shifts
• Negative Sentiment: Renaissance sold about $700M in Alphabet dividend stock — a sizable institutional sell that can add near-term selling pressure. Alphabet: Renaissance sells $700 million in dividend stock
• Negative Sentiment: An Alphabet insider sold ~$14.3M of shares — a headline that can weigh on sentiment even if occasional in normal insider activity. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Insider Sells $14,341,182.30 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market worry: coverage notes hyperscalers are funding AI buildouts increasingly with debt, raising questions about capex returns and investor risk tolerance — a sector headwind that can pressure GOOGL alongside peers. How the AI debt binge shattered hyperscalers’ ‘unspoken contract’ with investors

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total value of $184,038.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,325,999.52. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock valued at $119,145,289. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $311.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $349.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $320.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.27.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 target price (up previously from $346.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.57.

Alphabet Company 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.