Scharf Investments LLC Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Scharf Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 37.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,447 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 8,080 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trinity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Victory Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 8,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,687,000 after buying an additional 3,142 shares during the period. Members Trust Co lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,128 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,923,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 25,439 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,983,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Finally, Gunderson Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $874,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $348.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $345.71.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $297.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.13. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $350.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $308.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $297.57.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were 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 was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total value of $9,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,818,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $856,605,814.08. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,101,844 shares of company stock valued at $115,147,751. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom signed a long‑term agreement to develop and supply Google’s future custom AI chips (through 2031) and expanded compute arrangements that also involve Anthropic — this secures a key supply chain component for Google’s next‑gen AI racks and supports Google Cloud/Gemini scale. Broadcom signs long-term deal to develop Google’s custom AI chips
• Positive Sentiment: Investor/analyst backing is resurfacing: billionaire/allocations (Druckenmiller, Ken Griffin mentions) and fresh analyst notes keep a constructive view on GOOGL’s AI and cloud growth — supportive for sentiment and demand for shares. Alphabet is a Top AI Stock Pick of Billionaire Ken Griffin
• Neutral Sentiment: Google adjusted Gemini pricing for different AI workloads — this gives developers more levers to trade cost vs. performance and could help adoption and monetization, but the revenue impact will depend on uptake and pricing mix. Google Adjusts Gemini Pricing for Different AI Workloads
• Negative Sentiment: Large planned 2026 capital spending (reports cite ~$175–$185B / ~$180B) is a double‑edged sword — it underpins AI/cloud leadership but will likely pressure margins and free cash flow in the near term. Nobody Believed In Alphabet: In 2026, It Faces Its Biggest Test
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder and community pressure over water and power use at data centers is rising — potential project delays, cancellations or increased compliance costs are execution risks for expansion plans. Investors press Amazon, Microsoft and Google on water, power use in US data centers
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Google’s AI “Overviews” can be manipulated by scammers have triggered anti‑spam fixes — a reminder that product reliability and user trust issues could impact search experience and ad monetization if not fully resolved. Alphabet Faces AI Overview Fraud Questions
• Negative Sentiment: Visible insider selling and mixed institutional flows (large rebalances reported) add a technical/headline headwind that can amplify short‑term volatility despite strong fundamentals. Quiver Quantitative summary of opinions and insider activity

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.