Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 198,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,679 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.0% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $48,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 9,956 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Persium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. Persium Advisors LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,715 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,868,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the second quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,764,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple chose Google’s Gemini to power next‑generation Siri, creating a multi‑year licensing relationship that provides Google a large, high‑margin cloud customer and distribution into ~2bn Apple devices—an immediate revenue and strategic moat boost. Google and Apple enter into multi-year AI deal for Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: Market optimism around AI and stronger cloud execution pushed Alphabet into the $4 trillion valuation club, reinforcing investor confidence that Gemini and Google Cloud can materially reshape growth and margins. Alphabet hits $4 trillion valuation as AI refocus lifts sentiment
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and sell‑side shops are raising targets and reiterating the bull case (TD Cowen raised its target to $355 and Jefferies highlighted the company’s data moat and cloud upside), supporting near‑term buy interest. TD Cowen raises price target Jefferies: data moat & cloud growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Market positioning and option flows show some traders view GOOG as still relatively undervalued to analyst targets; short‑dated put selling has been productive, which can moderate volatility but also signals crowded bullish positioning. Put yields and undervaluation note
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet plans to develop and manufacture high‑end smartphones in Vietnam this year—a strategic supply‑chain/production move that diversifies hardware execution but is not an immediate earnings driver. Google to develop, manufacture phones in Vietnam
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors and analysts warn valuation is stretched after a strong 2025 rally; several notes have shifted from “strong buy” to “buy” citing compressed upside and that much of the AI upside may already be priced in. Seeking Alpha: downgrade to Buy on valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Some funds trimmed GOOGL holdings in recent filings (reported reductions by a few managers), which could add selling pressure if larger managers follow suit; public criticism from industry figures (e.g., Elon Musk) adds headline noise but is unlikely to change fundamentals. Fund filing: Davenport trims GOOGL Musk criticizes Apple‑Google deal

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $318.36.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $336.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $309.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.82. 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 $341.20.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $184,914.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,872.04. This represents a 13.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 192,087 shares of company stock valued at $58,525,556 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.