Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Acquired by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,939 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 4.7% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $36,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of GOOG opened at $273.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $350.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $295.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. 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 analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial upgraded Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $348.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $345.71.

Alphabet News Summary

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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,110,165 shares of company stock valued at $118,134,117 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.