Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 196.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,168 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,761 shares during the period. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,927,821,000 after acquiring an additional 5,182,111 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,511,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428,266 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,022,926,000 after purchasing an additional 441,177 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 35,357,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,272,146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,503,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,588,323,000 after purchasing an additional 695,736 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded GOOG to a “Strong Buy” and raised its price target to $400, citing acceleration across Alphabet’s AI stack — a direct catalyst for buying interest. Raymond James upgrades Alphabet to Strong Buy as “AI stack shifts to high gear”
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts across the street are lifting targets and reiterating buy ratings (RBC, Wedbush, others), creating upward pressure ahead of Q4 earnings as expectations for AI‑driven ad and cloud growth rise. Alphabet Stock (GOOGL) Wins a New Street-High Price Target Ahead of Q4 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Apple plans to use Google’s Gemini models to power the next Siri — a major distribution win that strengthens Gemini’s reach across billions of devices and supports longer‑term monetization and platform lock‑in. Apple to Turn Siri Into AI Chatbot Powered by Google’s Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanded its robotaxi service to Miami — incremental commercial rollout that supports Waymo’s path to revenue scale and diversification beyond advertising and cloud. Waymo launches robotaxi service in Miami, extending U.S. lead
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are flagging strong momentum in Google Cloud, supporting upside to revenue growth and margins as enterprise AI adoption accelerates. Alphabet Stock Rises As Analyst Highlights Momentum In Google Cloud
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat notes a modest pullback from record highs and technical consolidation near $320; fundamentals remain strong but valuation is elevated, so some investors may wait for a deeper retracement ahead of the Feb. 4 Q4 earnings print. Alphabet Cools After the Run: Buy Now or Wait for a Better Entry?
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer said he’s not abandoning the Magnificent Seven but acknowledged rotational flows into other sectors — a reminder that short‑term fund flows can temporarily divert gains away from market leaders like Alphabet. Jim Cramer says he’s not abandoning the Mag 7 stocks despite recent struggles. Here’s why
• Negative Sentiment: YouTube’s CEO flagged “managing AI slop” as a 2026 priority — content moderation and safety work could raise costs or slow monetization improvements on the platform if AI‑generated content proliferates. YouTube chief says ‘managing AI slop’ is a priority for 2026

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Loop Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Eight 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total value of $800,786.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 11,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,383,884.14. This trade represents a 19.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total transaction of $10,383,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,272,119 shares in the company, valued at $725,942,020.50. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 192,687 shares of company stock worth $58,728,068. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of GOOG opened at $330.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $315.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.15. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $341.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 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.