Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 533,855 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 13,633 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $130,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley grew its position in Alphabet by 60.0% in the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% during the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% during the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho set a $325.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $313.04.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $314.96 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $296.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $328.67.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $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 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 was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued 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 currently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $592,760,192.85. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 211,090 shares of company stock valued at $59,576,083. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.