Balefire LLC Has $5.76 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Balefire LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,594 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.1% of Balefire LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 145.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 196 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 56.8% in the third quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 218 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is deepening its AI infrastructure ties by backing a massive Texas data‑center project to be leased by Anthropic — a strategic move that secures capacity for large AI models and strengthens a key partner relationship. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has been raising targets: Needham and other analysts have issued $400+/high‑3xx targets and firms like Wells Fargo raised theirs recently — supporting medium‑term upside narratives despite the pullback. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals remain strong: recent quarterly beats, accelerating Google Cloud backlog (~$240B reported), and rapid Gemini adoption underpin revenue visibility and long‑term growth expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Google Research’s TurboQuant memory‑compression work has spooked memory suppliers but can be a net positive for Alphabet — lower AI infrastructure costs and greater model efficiency improve margins and competitive positioning. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technically the stock is in a correction from its highs and some commentators frame the selloff as a buying opportunity; price action below key short‑term supports is increasing volatility but not yet changing the longer‑term bull case. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk intensified after a high‑profile jury found YouTube (Alphabet) liable in a social‑media addiction bellwether case — the direct damages are small but the ruling increases headline and litigation risk across many pending suits and could force product or regulatory changes that hit engagement/ads. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market and geopolitical pressures: a tech sector selloff (Nasdaq weakness, Iran war worries) and legal blows to peers like Meta have amplified outflows from large cap tech, pressuring GOOG along with the group. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional/insider moves and high‑profile position trims (reported sales and some billionaire reductions) add selling pressure and headline risk in the near term. Read More.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $345.71.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $273.76 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $312.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $295.00. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $350.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 7.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock valued at $118,134,117. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.