Ethic Inc. Buys 57,871 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 556,193 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,871 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 2.2% of Ethic Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $135,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $91,033,300,000 after buying an additional 6,733,278 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 141,615,284 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,857,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,224,497 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $21,944,208,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 44,151,820 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,780,875,000 after purchasing an additional 503,306 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total value of $31,971.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,706,357.25. This trade represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.80, for a total transaction of $9,743,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,239,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $671,437,776.20. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 192,687 shares of company stock worth $56,255,711. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

Alphabet stock opened at $316.54 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $328.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $302.47 and its 200-day moving average is $245.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.22, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 is presently 8.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.12.

Key Stores Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus raised its price target on Alphabet to $365 and maintained a “buy” rating, citing stronger upside vs. prior guidance — a direct analyst catalyst that can attract additional buying and support the stock’s valuation recovery. Argus adjusts price target on Alphabet to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Samsung plans to double the number of mobile devices running Google’s Gemini to ~800 million units this year — a major distribution and adoption boost for Alphabet’s AI stack that can increase usage of cloud/AI services, strengthen Gemini’s ecosystem, and create monetization opportunities. Samsung to double devices powered by Google’s Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlights Alphabet as a top upgraded stock heading into 2026, noting dozens of analyst bullish revisions, a sharp rise in consensus price targets, and $140B of institutional inflows — all signaling sustained buy-side conviction and potential for further multiple expansion. Alphabet leader in upgraded stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Retail sentiment also favors Alphabet (ranked among top retail picks), reflecting alignment between Main Street and Wall Street — retail interest can amplify momentum and trading volume, particularly around AI narratives and product launches. 5 Stocks Retail Investors Are Betting on for 2026
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile endorsements and narratives (e.g., coverage noting Berkshire Hathaway’s regret at not owning Google) reinforce Alphabet’s long-term quality perception, supporting demand from buy-and-hold investors. Berkshire on missing Google
• Negative Sentiment: Indonesian prosecutors filed graft charges related to laptop procurement involving a former minister; while this implicates local procurement and public-sector processes rather than Alphabet directly, it could create short-term headline risk and localized reputational/legal scrutiny. Ex-Indonesian minister faces graft charges over Google laptop procurement

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.