Renaissance Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Renaissance Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 14,206 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.8% of Renaissance Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $48,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $53,000. Corsicana & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 have sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock valued at $119,145,289 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $314.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $320.32 and a 200 day moving average of $278.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic cloud partnerships expanding addressable market — Google announced a deal with Sea Ltd to build AI tools for e‑commerce and gaming, which supports Google Cloud revenue growth in Southeast Asia and demonstrates enterprise demand for its AI stack. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum — Google is rolling Gemini‑powered, music‑focused generative‑AI features (also showing up at competitors), indicating faster consumer AI adoption that could boost engagement and future monetization. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional support & analyst upgrades — recent 13F activity and analyst price‑target increases (and MarketBeat coverage) signal long‑term investor conviction that can underpin the stock. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: AI infrastructure arms race — NVIDIA–Meta mega‑deal and hyperscaler capex plans validate AI demand but raise competitive and capital‑intensity questions for Google; this is demand‑positive but increases the investment bar. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet exploring chip/partner strategies — WSJ reports Google is weighing ways to use its balance sheet to better compete with chip suppliers, a strategic move that could reduce long‑run costs or distract management depending on execution. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — recent disclosed sales by CEO Sundar Pichai and senior exec John Kent Walker (multi‑million dollar sales) can sap near‑term sentiment even if routine for compensation/liquidity reasons. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Security/legal risk — indictment of three engineers accused of stealing Google trade secrets and sending data to Iran raises potential IP, litigation and reputational risks that investors will watch. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: AI rotation/profit‑taking — some prominent managers have trimmed AI positions in recent 13F filings, which contributes to episodic pressure on hyperscaler multiples. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, February 16th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.86.

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.