Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Bought by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 116,216 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $36,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $4,298,572,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,904,434 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 73.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,808,152 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,388,775,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154,929 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 17,547.9% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,122,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $731,331,000 after purchasing an additional 4,099,366 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 330.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,989,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $707,691,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062,590 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Raymond James Financial upgraded Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $345.71.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.3%

GOOG opened at $298.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $317.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $293.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $350.15.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,244,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,914,730.12. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind hires Bridgewater’s chief scientist Jasjeet Sekhon — a high‑profile talent win that strengthens Alphabet’s AI research and commercial credentials versus rivals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud + CVS launch “Health100” using Gemini models — expands Gemini into consumer healthcare (pharmacy, insurance, wearables) and creates a potential recurring revenue stream for cloud/AI services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum: Stitch “vibe design” update is drawing real competition away from incumbents (Figma/Adobe) — suggests faster AI‑driven product monetization and market expansion for developer/designer tools. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Google struck agreements with five U.S. utilities to curb data‑center power use at peak demand — reduces brownout/cost risk for data‑center expansion and supports more predictable AI operations. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is pursuing Pentagon contracts (coverage and video reports) — potential contract upside but comes with employee/PR controversy given industry disputes; outcome is uncertain for near‑term revenue. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Supply‑chain/geopolitical risk: reports that Alphabet is increasing use of Chinese suppliers for advanced liquid cooling raise export‑control and political risks for global AI builds. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Sundar Pichai and several directors have disclosed recent SEC‑filed share sales — repeated large insider sales can spook short‑term sentiment even if they are scheduled or for diversification. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader valuation/capex concern: commentary on massive hyperscaler AI capex and uncertain timing of returns is pressuring multiples across cloud/AI names, including Alphabet. Read More.

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.