Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Holdings Lowered by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 427,512 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 15,620 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 4.4% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $104,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Balefire LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.2% in the third quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 20,953 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,103,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 58.4% in the 3rd quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC now owns 9,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,288,000 after buying an additional 3,464 shares in the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $271,000. Carr Financial Group Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 11,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,392 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at $2,798,832.60. This represents a 23.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $184,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,872.04. This trade represents a 13.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 228,906 shares of company stock valued at $63,984,117 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud scored a very large security‑services expansion with Palo Alto Networks that sources say is “approaching $10 billion,” a material commercial win that should lift cloud revenue and backlog expectations. Google Cloud lands deal with Palo Alto Networks
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerage momentum: Wedbush and other analysts have recently raised targets/ratings (new Wedbush $350 target) — analyst upgrades and higher price targets are supporting buyer interest. New Analyst Forecast: $GOOGL Given $350 Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Talent win for AI: Coverage reports ~20% of Google’s 2025 AI software-engineer hires were “boomerang” ex‑employees — a sign management is successfully rehiring experienced AI staff amid intense competition, which supports execution on Gemini, cloud AI products and new hardware/software initiatives. Google’s boomerang year: 20% of AI software engineers hired in 2025 were ex-employees
• Neutral Sentiment: Social/market chatter highlights AI product strength (Gemini updates) and Waymo funding talk — these narratives can lift sentiment but carry execution and valuation risk if monetization timelines slip. Opinions on AI Innovations and Waymo Funding
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/trading signals: Power‑inflow/order‑flow alerts and recent intraday momentum have drawn short‑term traders into GOOG, amplifying moves on news. GOOG Hits Intraday High After Key Trading Signal
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal headwinds: Mexico’s antitrust authority ordered Google to drop certain Android restrictions, and a Spanish consumer group has opened preliminary legal action over alleged data collection — these actions raise compliance, litigation and product‑bundling risk in key markets. Mexico’s antitrust commission resolves Android competition case Spanish consumer group seeks to sue Google in data row
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Multiple filings show director/exec stock sales (including CEO sales disclosed) — routine for tax/planning but some investors view concentrated insider sales negatively in the short term. Alphabet insider buying and selling

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $308.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $328.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $289.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.56.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $313.04.

Alphabet 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.