DNB Asset Management AS Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

DNB Asset Management AS trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,188,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 304,725 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 5.6% of DNB Asset Management AS’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. DNB Asset Management AS owned 0.05% of Alphabet worth $1,504,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brooktree Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,277,000 after buying an additional 7,180 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,401,000 after buying an additional 4,241 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centerpoint Advisory Group raised its holdings in Alphabet by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. Centerpoint Advisory Group now owns 2,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google closed its $32 billion acquisition of Israeli cloud-security firm Wiz, folding Wiz into Google Cloud to bolster cloud and AI security capabilities — a major strategic bet that can expand enterprise revenue and product differentiation for Google Cloud. Google completes $32B acquisition of Wiz
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s GFiber unit is combining with Astound Broadband to form an independent fiber provider majority-owned by Stonepeak; Alphabet will be a minority owner — a deal that monetizes capital-intensive infrastructure, reduces execution risk and frees cash for core cloud/AI investments. Google sells partial stake in fiber business, becomes minority owner of new venture
• Positive Sentiment: Canal+ struck a multi-year deal to use Google Cloud’s generative AI for production and content recommendation — a concrete enterprise win that illustrates continued commercial traction for Google Cloud AI in media. Canal+ taps Google’s AI for video production, content recommendation
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and technical commentary are supporting the stock: coverage showing a bullish analyst consensus and MarketBeat noting a stabilizing pullback near $300 have likely encouraged buying from institutional and retail investors. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 2.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s increased involvement with Pentagon AI (Agent Designer/GenAI.mil) signals potential contract opportunities but also political scrutiny; revenue upside exists but with reputational/regulatory considerations. Google Deploys AI Agents to Help Pentagon Automate Jobs
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports showing odd/unchanged short-interest figures (zeros or NaN in filings) are effectively non-informative and are unlikely to drive the move in GOOGL today.
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure from Microsoft’s expanding AI-cloud ecosystem (dual-model strategy, Anthropic/OpenAI ties) remains a medium-term risk to Google Cloud’s growth and margins. Microsoft Positioned to Win AI Race With Dual-Model Strategy (GOOGL)
• Negative Sentiment: Governance/compensation scrutiny after reporting of CEO Sundar Pichai’s large incentive package tied to long‑term “moonshot” bets could concern some investors worried about pay structure and execution risk. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai’s new $692 million compensation package…

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total transaction of $33,934.88. Following the sale, the director owned 18,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,580,469.82. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $308.70 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $349.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $319.56 and a 200 day moving average of $288.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wedbush raised their target price on Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.