Webster Bank N. A. Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Webster Bank N. A. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,691 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,438 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 8.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,749,864,000 after buying an additional 2,209,203 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,583,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,935,671,000 after buying an additional 223,743 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,625,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,971,769,000 after buying an additional 539,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 21,531,348 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,243,960,000 after buying an additional 756,602 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total transaction of $33,934.88. Following the sale, the director owned 18,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,580,469.82. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the sale, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,187,638.65. This trade represents a 22.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 2,037,294 shares of company stock valued at $94,216,897 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google embedded its Gemini AI features into Chrome for ~3.5 billion users, widening distribution of monetizable AI functionality and strengthening user engagement across the purchase journey. Google Embeds AI Into Chrome for 3.5 Billion Users
• Positive Sentiment: Vodafone will offer advanced cybersecurity and “agentic” AI services to small businesses via its strategic Google Cloud tie-up, expanding enterprise sales channels and recurring cloud revenue opportunities. Vodafone offers small businesses cybersecurity, AI capability with Google tie-up
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street bullishness ahead of Cloud Next: UBS and other analysts have raised price targets and called Alphabet a top pick, citing Google Cloud and AI momentum — a near-term positive for sentiment and positioning. UBS Raises Alphabet’s Target to $375
• Positive Sentiment: Reports and coverage point to new inference-focused TPUs and Google’s push into custom AI silicon — if adopted at scale this could improve cloud margins and differentiate Google Cloud. Google to Release New AI Chips, Challenging Nvidia
• Neutral Sentiment: Talks that Google may work with Marvell on custom AI chips are circulating but disputed by some analysts; strategic supplier diversification would be positive long-term but details and timing remain unclear. Marvell falls back after reports on Google AI chip talks disputed by analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet holds a large SpaceX stake that could unlock significant non-core value if SpaceX IPOs — a potential valuation tailwind but not an immediate revenue driver. Alphabet’s SpaceX Stake Puts Fresh Focus On Non Core Value
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director John L. Hennessy disclosed a sale of 1,050 shares (mid-April); small on its own but contributes to near-term negative optics. Insider Selling: Alphabet Director Sells Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Large reported 13F moves (Cardano Risk Management shows a ~90% reduction in GOOG/GOOGL holdings per parsing) create selling noise — filings may contain parse errors but the headlines can pressure the stock. Fund Update: Cardano Risk Management B.V. Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Negative Sentiment: Some institutional trimming (e.g., Manitou reduced its Class A stake) adds incremental selling pressure though not large enough alone to change the long-term story. Manitou Investment Management Trims Alphabet Class A Stake

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $346.03.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5%

GOOG stock opened at $330.47 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $303.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.13. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.49 and a 12 month high of $350.15. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

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.