Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY Sells 14,989 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 253,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 14,989 shares during the quarter. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $61,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the third quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Searle & CO. raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 5,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 5,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% during the third quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 7,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.90.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet closed its largest‑ever acquisition, buying cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion — a move that strengthens Google Cloud’s security offering and could help accelerate enterprise cloud adoption. Google completes $32B acquisition of Wiz
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to monetize AI across products: Gemini is being added to Google Maps (“Ask Maps”) and Workspace (Docs/Sheets/Slides/Drive), which can drive engagement and incremental ad/cloud revenue over time. Google Adds Gemini AI to Google Maps
• Positive Sentiment: Google cut Android developer fees and expanded billing options, resolving a long dispute with Epic and enabling Fortnite’s return to the Play Store — a signal that policy changes may improve Play Store monetization and developer relations. Google App Store Brings Back Fortnite, Changes Fee Structure
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is combining its GFiber unit with Astound Broadband, retaining a minority stake while Stonepeak becomes majority owner — this monetizes a capital‑intensive asset but limits future control/returns. Google sells partial stake in fiber business
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and institutional backdrop remains supportive: multiple upgrades, a large buy consensus and continued inflows help underpin the longer‑term case even as the stock retraces; MarketBeat/analysis note $300 area as key technical support. Alphabet pullback and analyst coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reports in recent feeds show zero or inconsistent figures (likely data anomalies), so don’t read too much into the reported “spike” — short interest appears not to be a driver today.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks: UK regulator pressure to protect children online and ongoing AI‑related legal/competitive noise (lawsuits mentioned around Gemini) add headline risk that can pressure multiples for large tech names. Big tech warned to protect children online
• Negative Sentiment: Sizeable cash outlay for Wiz and heightened competition from other AI/cloud players mean investors may be cautious about near‑term free‑cash flow and integration risk despite strategic rationale. Google completes $32B purchase of Wiz

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,325,999.52. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $303.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $319.64 and its 200-day moving average is $289.11. 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 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

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.