Howard Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Howard Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,999 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,839 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.3% of Howard Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Matisse Capital grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 14,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Breakwater Investment Management grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the third quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 4,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Fonville Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $385.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.64.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $305.72 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $349.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total value of $10,893,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,179,372 shares in the company, valued at $730,481,906.96. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $35,060,852.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,067,086 shares of company stock valued at $105,184,255 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and AI/cloud growth — Alphabet exceeded EPS and revenue expectations, Cloud revenue jumped ~48% and backlog expanded materially, supporting longer-term revenue and monetization from AI products. Alphabet’s Pullback: A Second Chance for Long-Term Investors?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism — Several firms raised price targets on GOOGL (noted lifts to $375 and $380), reflecting continued confidence in growth and upside vs. the recent pullback. Price Target Raised to $375 Price Target Raised to $380
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expansion — Waymo is deploying next‑gen Ojai robotaxis and using gig workers for door-closing operations, signaling commercial progress in autonomous mobility (long-term revenue optionality). Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong bond demand—but guardrails questioned — Alphabet’s recent global bond sale drew very strong demand (underscoring investor confidence), while commentary noted limited contractual protections for bondholders on a long‑dated issuance. This is liquidity/market-confidence positive but raises structural concerns for fixed‑income holders. Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails highlights investor confidence
• Neutral Sentiment: Century‑bond debate — Heavy demand for a 100‑year sterling bond signals long-duration appetite (positive for funding flexibility) but prompts caution about untested long‑dated issuance. Why Alphabet’s 100-year sterling bond is raising new fears Bond investors are betting on another 100 years of Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears unreliable — Reports show sudden increases but list zero shares and NaN changes (likely a data glitch); not a confirmed signal of rising short pressure. (internal short‑interest entries)
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust probe into search ad auctions — European regulators are investigating Google’s ad-auction practices and pricing, which could lead to fines, operational constraints in Europe, or forced changes to ad platform mechanics. Google targeted by EU over its search advertising auction practices Google hit by fresh EU antitrust probe
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and AI arms‑race fears — Alphabet’s large 2026 CapEx outlook (~$175–185B) and the broader AI infrastructure spend among hyperscalers have raised investor concern about free‑cash‑flow strain and near‑term margin/return pressures; that theme contributed to short‑term selling after earnings. Alphabet Drops 7% Post Q4 Earnings Mag 7 AI Arms Race: Heavy CapEx, FCF Strain
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness — Coverage notes that several mega‑cap tech names have softened (Magnificent Seven pressure), which amplifies selloffs in high‑multiple names like GOOGL even when fundamentals remain strong. Amazon Joins Microsoft in Bear Market

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.