Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Lowered by Greenwood Capital Associates LLC

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,940 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,291 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.6% of Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,333,076,000 after buying an additional 6,874,381 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,186,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,984,744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 39,250,829 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,541,877,000 after acquiring an additional 392,547 shares in 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: Blowout Q1 — EPS and revenue materially beat expectations, with Google Cloud reporting very strong growth that convinced investors the company’s AI investments are driving near‑term monetization. GOOGL Q1 Earnings Beat (Zacks)
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud / AI momentum — Google Cloud grew ~63% y/y, AI product revenues surged and management cited a multi‑hundred‑billion backlog, supporting upside to future revenue and margins. Cloud Growth & Backlog (Zacks)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades — A wave of price‑target increases and buy/overweight reiterations (Goldman, JPMorgan, Canaccord, Citi, etc.) followed the quarter, adding institutional endorsement and likely supporting further buying. Price Target Raises (MarketScreener)
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder return signal — Alphabet announced a modestly higher quarterly dividend (up from $0.21 to $0.22), marking a small but visible move toward returning cash to investors.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/monetization rollouts — Gemini is being integrated into millions of cars (upgrade from Assistant), and Waymo continues geographic expansion and commercial rides — both expand long‑term monetization pathways but have longer ROI timelines. Gemini in Cars (TechCrunch) Waymo Growth (Business Insider)
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual options activity — Heavy call buying today suggests bullish positioning or hedged directional bets; this amplifies intraday volatility but not fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx concerns — Multiple write‑ups flagged rapid, ongoing AI/data‑center spend; some investors worry heavy capex could pressure near‑term margins despite revenue gains. CapEx Concerns (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and governance risks — European scrutiny (Italy) and shareholder pushes for cloud/AI safeguards create political/regulatory overhang that could affect product deployments or compliance costs. Italy Asks EU Probe (Reuters)

Alphabet Stock Up 10.0%

GOOGL stock opened at $384.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The business’s 50-day moving average is $313.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.81. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.84 and a fifty-two week high of $385.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 41.25% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,638.65. This represents a 22.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 191,884 shares of company stock valued at $59,121,365 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $390.65.

Alphabet 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.