PAX Financial Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

PAX Financial Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,834 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,051 shares during the quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $21,944,208,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 17,667.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,640,000 after buying an additional 15,159,273 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 51.7% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,607,232,000 after buying an additional 10,843,853 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $91,033,300,000 after buying an additional 6,733,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Alphabet by 201.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,547,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,153,824,000 after acquiring an additional 4,374,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and AI/cloud growth — Alphabet exceeded EPS and revenue expectations, Cloud revenue jumped ~48% and backlog expanded materially, supporting longer-term revenue and monetization from AI products. Alphabet’s Pullback: A Second Chance for Long-Term Investors?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism — Several firms raised price targets on GOOGL (noted lifts to $375 and $380), reflecting continued confidence in growth and upside vs. the recent pullback. Price Target Raised to $375 Price Target Raised to $380
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expansion — Waymo is deploying next‑gen Ojai robotaxis and using gig workers for door-closing operations, signaling commercial progress in autonomous mobility (long-term revenue optionality). Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong bond demand—but guardrails questioned — Alphabet’s recent global bond sale drew very strong demand (underscoring investor confidence), while commentary noted limited contractual protections for bondholders on a long‑dated issuance. This is liquidity/market-confidence positive but raises structural concerns for fixed‑income holders. Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails highlights investor confidence
• Neutral Sentiment: Century‑bond debate — Heavy demand for a 100‑year sterling bond signals long-duration appetite (positive for funding flexibility) but prompts caution about untested long‑dated issuance. Why Alphabet’s 100-year sterling bond is raising new fears Bond investors are betting on another 100 years of Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears unreliable — Reports show sudden increases but list zero shares and NaN changes (likely a data glitch); not a confirmed signal of rising short pressure. (internal short‑interest entries)
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust probe into search ad auctions — European regulators are investigating Google’s ad-auction practices and pricing, which could lead to fines, operational constraints in Europe, or forced changes to ad platform mechanics. Google targeted by EU over its search advertising auction practices Google hit by fresh EU antitrust probe
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and AI arms‑race fears — Alphabet’s large 2026 CapEx outlook (~$175–185B) and the broader AI infrastructure spend among hyperscalers have raised investor concern about free‑cash‑flow strain and near‑term margin/return pressures; that theme contributed to short‑term selling after earnings. Alphabet Drops 7% Post Q4 Earnings Mag 7 AI Arms Race: Heavy CapEx, FCF Strain
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness — Coverage notes that several mega‑cap tech names have softened (Magnificent Seven pressure), which amplifies selloffs in high‑multiple names like GOOGL even when fundamentals remain strong. Amazon Joins Microsoft in Bear Market

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total transaction of $9,640,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,304,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $683,642,180.16. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,064,308 shares of company stock valued at $104,383,469. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $305.72 on Monday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $321.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $275.51. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $349.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.28, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The company 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 price objective (up from $346.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $361.64.

About Alphabet

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.