Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Position Cut by AXS Investments LLC

AXS Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,327 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,775 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.9% of AXS Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. AXS Investments LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $213,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the third quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 929,411 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $226,823,000 after buying an additional 27,834 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 157,592 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,311,000 after buying an additional 4,332 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 27,289 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,258,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,736,841,000 after acquiring an additional 758,195 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Alphabet from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Arete Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $361.64.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at $2,798,832.60. This trade represents a 23.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,064,308 shares of company stock worth $104,383,469. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

GOOGL opened at $305.72 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $349.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.51. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Alphabet 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.