Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 135,730 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,875,908 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 135,730 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.6% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $456,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 60.0% in the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets boost upside expectations for GOOG, with Canaccord and others lifting targets well above prior levels — a direct catalyst for buying interest. Canaccord Raises PT to $390
• Positive Sentiment: AI product momentum: reports show Gemini gaining share versus ChatGPT and Gemini-powered features rolling into Gmail at scale — this supports stronger ad/search monetization and cloud expectations. Gemini Gains Market Share
• Positive Sentiment: Market-cap milestone: Alphabet briefly overtook Apple as the world’s No.2 public company — a sign of investor confidence that can attract index/ETF flows and reinforce momentum. Alphabet Surpasses Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Wiz acquisition pending EU approval by Feb.10 — approval would remove a large M&A overhang; rejection would be a setback. Outcome is material but binary. EU to Decide on Wiz Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo branding/product updates signal long-term autonomy growth but limited near-term EPS impact; watch commercialization cadence. Waymo Rebrands Robotaxi
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/reputational pressure: three Democratic senators urged Apple and Google to suspend X and Grok from their app stores over sexualized images of minors created via AI — a headline that raises moderation/regulatory scrutiny for app stores and Google’s ecosystem. Senators Call to Suspend X and Grok
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure from AI products: Alphabet and Character.AI settled suits alleging AI chatbots harmed minors (including a teen suicide), underscoring potential costs, regulation and reputational risk. AI Lawsuit Settlements
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and talent movement: CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed a multi-million-dollar share sale; separately, Nvidia hired a Google marketing veteran — both can weigh on near-term sentiment and raise questions about insider cashing and talent retention. Pichai Share Sale

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total transaction of $800,786.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,884.14. This trade represents a 19.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 227,965 shares of company stock valued at $67,495,822 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up previously from $336.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $318.18.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $329.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $331.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $249.47. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

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.