Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Invests $65.32 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 268,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $65,321,000. Alphabet comprises about 1.5% of Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the third quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Searle & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 5,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 5,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 7,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, January 5th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 target price (up from $355.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $343.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,798,832.60. This represents a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% 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 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $306.01 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $320.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.17. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $350.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during 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%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Technical/flow support: MarketBeat says GOOGL has confirmed a major support zone near ~$300 after a 12% pullback, with strong institutional inflows and analyst upgrades that make the recent dip look like a potential long-term entry. GOOGL Pullback Confirms Support, Setting Up a Potential New Entry
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial traction: Reuters/InsiderMonkey reports CVS Health will roll out an AI-enabled customer platform built on Google Cloud — a tangible enterprise win that should boost cloud consumption and revenue visibility. CVS Health To Roll Out AI-enabled Platform With Google Cloud
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic/partner signal: CNBC reports Mandiant founder Kevin Mandia raised $190M for a new AI-cybersecurity startup (Armadin), with some funding coming from the company that sold him to Google — a sign of continued ecosystem investment and Google’s ongoing ties to security/AI startups. Kevin Mandia raised $190 million for Armadin
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/coverage context: Market and media pieces (Zacks/Fool) are comparing Alphabet with peers (e.g., Nvidia) and reiterating Alphabet’s diversified revenue mix and long-term AI edge — useful framing but not new catalysts by itself. Nvidia vs. Alphabet: Which Stock Will Make You Richer?
• Negative Sentiment: Supply‑chain/cost risk: TipRanks flags that Nvidia’s high‑bandwidth memory buying spree has created global shortages that could raise costs or constrain Google’s AI hardware spend, a potential margin/headline risk for AI infrastructure. Nvidia’s Memory Shortage Could Cause Google Billions
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure: MarketBeat coverage of Microsoft’s aggressive dual‑model and Anthropic/OpenAI positioning underscores intensifying cloud/AI competition — a reminder Azure is a strong adversary for Google Cloud share gains. Microsoft Positioned to Win AI Race With Dual-Model Strategy
• Negative Sentiment: Governance/headline drag: Recent reports detail approval of a potential $692M CEO pay package tied to Waymo and insider sales by Alphabet’s CEO (~$9.86M sold) — items that can sap sentiment and were linked to small near‑term stock weakness. Alphabet offers CEO pay deal worth up to $692M Alphabet CEO Sells Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: Yahoo/Reuters coverage of Indonesia’s plan to ban high‑risk digital platforms for children under 16 could create regional regulatory pressure on core ad or platform features if similar rules spread. Indonesia Plans to Ban High-Risk Digital Platforms for Children

About Alphabet

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.