Quadrature Capital Ltd Sells 261,958 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Quadrature Capital Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 56.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 261,958 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $49,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,697,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.4% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 239.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 63,128 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,198,000 after buying an additional 44,546 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 172,755 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,645,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $343.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $303.21 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $350.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $319.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total value of $10,439,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,244,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,914,730.12. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock worth $118,605,094 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

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

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.