J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 760,347 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,365 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 3.0% of J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $184,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moment Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after buying an additional 2,467 shares during the period. Brooktree Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $352,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 13.9% during the third quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,277,000 after acquiring an additional 7,180 shares during the period. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $318.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $321.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts boosted targets and reiterated buys, supporting upside case for growth from AI and cloud — Daiwa lifted its target to $380 and President Capital lifted its target as well. Daiwa raises price target on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: EU granted unconditional antitrust approval for Google’s $32B acquisition of Wiz, removing a major regulatory obstacle for the company’s largest deal and supporting cloud/security growth expectations. EU clears Wiz acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanded fully autonomous service in Nashville, signaling progress in commercializing a core long-term growth area beyond advertising. Waymo goes fully autonomous
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet increased the size of a multi-part debt sale (reports say the raise topped $30B) as demand strengthened — provides funding for AI infrastructure but raises questions about capital structure and long-duration liabilities. Alphabet boosts debt sale above $30B
• Neutral Sentiment: Company offered voluntary exit packages to some business-unit employees — could reduce costs but also reflects strategic reorganization and execution risk. Google offers buyouts to some staff
• Negative Sentiment: Report that Google handed personal and financial data on a student/journalist to ICE (via subpoena not approved by a judge) raises privacy/regulatory and reputational risk. Google sent student data to ICE
• Negative Sentiment: European Publishers Council filed an EU antitrust complaint about Google’s AI Overviews, adding regulatory pressure around search/AI monetization. Publishers file antitrust complaint
• Negative Sentiment: Autodesk sued Google over alleged trademark infringement for AI video tools and other legal skirmishes/consumer-safety litigation are piling up — added litigation risk. Autodesk sues Google
• Negative Sentiment: High-profile critics and some investors flagged Alphabet’s century‑long debt issuance as worrisome; public comments (e.g., Michael Burry posts) add negative market sentiment. Michael Burry warns on Google

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $354.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $279.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $359.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total value of $10,893,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,179,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,481,906.96. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,067,686 shares of company stock valued at $105,352,291. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.