ARS Investment Partners LLC Has $6.77 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

ARS Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 13.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,781 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,316 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. RDA Financial Network raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% during the second quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 11,094 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,968,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 170,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,304 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank of Texas acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $900,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,164,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $206,542,000 after acquiring an additional 42,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oldfather Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Scotiabank set a $336.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Alphabet from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $313.04.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $314.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $296.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $328.67.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.80, for a total value of $9,743,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,239,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $671,437,776.20. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total value of $32,401.32. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,750,916.64. This trade represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 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.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet has outperformed other Magnificent Seven members YTD (about +66%) which underpins momentum and investor confidence in GOOG’s AI/search-led growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BMO and other sell‑side commentary highlight accelerating AI-driven cloud commitments as a structural growth catalyst for Google Cloud revenue and margins — supports higher earnings multiples for GOOG. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s acquisition of Intersect (data‑center/energy infrastructure) is a strategic move to scale capacity for AI workloads — likely positive for long‑term cloud/AI positioning (capex & integration risk remain). Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary and price‑target updates remain bullish (multiple recent buys/overweights and median targets near/above current levels), reinforcing institutional demand; large funds (UBS, Berkshire, Fidelity) materially added positions in Q3. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Industry comparisons point to Alphabet’s AI momentum (Search + Cloud) as a competitive edge versus other AI names like Adobe — a narrative likely to attract growth and momentum money. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Product improvements — Google is testing a way to let some users change Gmail addresses without losing data. Helpful for user satisfaction but low near-term revenue impact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces and buy‑the‑dip narratives (MarketBeat, Motley Fool) may sustain retail interest; they support sentiment but aren’t new fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~35% in December (to ~56.15M shares), increasing potential downside pressure and volatility if sentiment weakens. (Higher days‑to‑cover also raises squeeze risk but signals more bearish positioning.)
• Negative Sentiment: Quiver/other data flag heavy insider selling (multiple senior executives sold shares recently), which some investors view as a cautionary signal on near‑term conviction. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Operational note: Waymo paused SF robotaxis during extreme weather — minor near‑term PR/operational impact, but highlights autonomous mobility regulatory/operational risks. Article Title

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.