Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 14,147 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 177,793 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 14,147 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.2% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $43,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $21,944,208,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 17,667.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,640,000 after acquiring an additional 15,159,273 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 51.7% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,607,232,000 after acquiring an additional 10,843,853 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,733,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 201.3% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,547,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,153,824,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alphabet from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.12.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong AI hardware strategy and sentiment shift — Coverage argues Alphabet’s custom AI chip/TPU roadmap and clearer monetization plans are reshaping investor expectations and could drive a breakout toward new highs as AI spending accelerates. Alphabet Stock Eyes Breakout Above All-Time High
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud + Gemini monetization pickup — Analysts and commentators highlight that Google Cloud’s AI product rollout (Gemini integration, Overviews, enterprise AI services) is reaching an inflection point, improving revenue mix and margins for 2026. Alphabet’s AI Cloud Moment May Finally Be Here
• Positive Sentiment: Distribution scale via partners — Samsung plans to double the number of devices running Google’s Gemini features to ~800M units this year, a large-scale distribution win that supports mobile AI adoption and ad/Cloud engagement. Samsung to double mobile devices powered by Google’s Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and price‑target lifts — Argus raised its price target to $365 (buy), and MarketBeat/other outlets show broad bullish analyst revisions heading into 2026, supporting upside expectations and institutional inflows. Argus adjusts price target on Alphabet to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Broader bullish repositioning into AI leaders — MarketBeat pieces highlight Alphabet among the most‑upgraded/rewired tech names for 2026, reflecting momentum in analyst sentiment and flows that favor AI/cloud leaders. 5 Stocks Wall Street Repriced Higher Heading Into 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Defense and energy partnerships alter investment profile — Coverage notes Alphabet’s Pentagon‑backed AI work and an Intersect Power deal, which can broaden revenue sources but also adds defense exposure and ESG/government contracting complexity. Impact is mixed for multiples and investor cohorts. How Alphabet’s Pentagon‑Backed AI Push and Intersect Power Deal Has Changed Its Investment Story
• Negative Sentiment: Local legal/regulatory noise — Indonesian prosecutors filed graft charges linked to laptop procurement tied to Google; while not a company‑level financial shock, such cases add regional legal risk and headline volatility that can sap risk appetite short‑term. Ex-Indonesian minister faces graft charges over Google laptop

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $314.43 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $328.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $303.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $246.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet 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 owned 2,239,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $671,437,776.20. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total transaction of $31,971.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,706,357.25. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,687 shares of company stock worth $56,255,711. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.