Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Position Raised by GDS Wealth Management

GDS Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 126,919 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,563 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.0% of GDS Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total transaction of $202,512.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,163,524.48. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 2,067,686 shares of company stock worth $105,352,291 over the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

GOOGL opened at $322.86 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $270.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $349.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q4 estimates with $113.8B revenue, $2.82 EPS, huge Google Cloud growth (48% y/y) and milestone annual revenue above $400B — evidence that AI and ads are driving durable top‑line momentum. Alphabet Crushes Earnings Again, Reports 48% Cloud Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini/product adoption and a surging cloud backlog (reported at ~$240B) support longer‑term revenue leverage from AI investments — a structural growth argument investors and many analysts are citing. Google goes from laggard to leader as it pulls ahead of OpenAI with stellar AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokers raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views after the quarter (e.g., Citigroup, JPMorgan, RBC, Needham, Mizuho), providing analyst support under the share price. Multiple analyst price target raises (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest data shows no meaningful short position change (reads as negligible/quiet on short‑selling activity), so moves are likely driven by flows and sentiment rather than a short squeeze.
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF/sector flows and inclusion chatter (new Big Tech ETFs) can amplify moves in GOOGL but are not company‑specific catalysts. Big Tech Core: New Burney ETF Packs Apple, Nvidia, Google, Broadcom Punch
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet guided to $175–$185B of capex for 2026 (aimed at AI compute and cloud), a shockingly large jump that has investors fretting about near‑term free cash flow and returns on incremental AI spend — the dominant proximate cause of recent weakness. Alphabet resets the bar for AI infrastructure spending (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market narrative: fears about excessive AI capex are prompting a tech sell‑off (FactSet noted >$1T wiped from big‑tech), which weighs on Alphabet alongside company‑specific capex concerns. Big Tech sees over $1 trillion wiped from stocks as fears of AI bubble ignite sell-off
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was reported after the quarter, adding near‑term pressure on sentiment. Alphabet Shares Down After Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Employee protests over Google Cloud contracts with immigration agencies pose reputational/legal risk that can create headline volatility. Google Workers Demand End to Cloud Services for Immigration Agencies

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Moffett Nathanson raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $354.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.46.

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.