Whittier Trust Co. Sells 5,128 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Whittier Trust Co. reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 253,879 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,128 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.7% of Whittier Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $62,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Matisse Capital raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 14,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Breakwater Investment Management raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 4,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,028,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $983,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.3% in the third quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fonville Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total transaction of $202,512.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,163,524.48. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,067,686 shares of company stock valued at $105,352,291. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial set a $385.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.46.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $322.86 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $349.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.29.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

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

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.