Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,923 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,447 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.7% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S&T Bank PA raised its holdings in Alphabet by 40.2% in the 2nd quarter. S&T Bank PA now owns 345 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large cloud commercial win — CVS will deploy an AI‑enabled health platform on Google Cloud, validating enterprise demand for recurring cloud/AI revenue and supporting the Google Cloud/Gemini growth story. CVS taps Google Cloud
• Positive Sentiment: AI partnership continuity — Google said Anthropic will remain available for non‑defense projects after DoD actions, limiting disruption to Alphabet’s access to Anthropic models and enterprise AI offerings. Google says Anthropic remains available
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional support — Robert W. Baird lifted its price target to $380 and other firms have boosted targets/ratings recently, reinforcing buy narratives and upside vs. the current price. Baird raises price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Small insider sales — filings show modest sales by a director and the CAO; routine disclosures that markets note but are not large enough to signal strategic conviction changes. SEC filing — insider sales
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary on recent pullback — coverage (e.g., Zacks) highlights the stock’s slide since earnings and asks whether it can rebound, offering investor viewpoints but no new company fundamentals. Zacks — can it rebound?
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/PR overhang: a wrongful‑death lawsuit alleges harmful guidance from the Gemini chatbot, raising potential liability, regulatory scrutiny and reputational risk for Alphabet’s core AI investment thesis. Gemini wrongful‑death lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Autonomous‑vehicle scrutiny — the NHTSA/NHTSA‑led safety forum and ongoing probes into Waymo incidents increase regulatory risk and operational uncertainty for the self‑driving unit. NHTSA self‑driving safety forum
• Negative Sentiment: App store revenue pressure — a settlement with Epic lowered Play Store commission rates (to ~20% + up to 5%), which could modestly reduce Play‑ecosystem take rates and near‑term revenue. Play Store commission cut
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical pressure — recent tensions and tech pullbacks in affected markets (e.g., Dubai exposure) are weighing on large‑cap tech multiples, contributing to negative sentiment around GOOGL. Tech offices respond to U.S.-Iran tensions

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7%

GOOGL stock opened at $298.80 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $349.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $319.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $286.26. 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 issued 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. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. President Capital upped their price target on Alphabet from $323.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.18.

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.