Defender Capital LLC. Acquires New Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Defender Capital LLC. acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,000. Alphabet makes up about 0.4% of Defender Capital LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GenWealth Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. GenWealth Group Inc. now owns 1,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,226,139 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $384,762,000 after acquiring an additional 40,107 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 109,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,154,000 after acquiring an additional 16,939 shares in the last quarter. Myecfo LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 10,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC now owns 19,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,075,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 price target (up from $355.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $345.71.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $273.76 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $312.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $295.39. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $350.15. The company has a market cap of $3.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.10. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given 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 was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,955,564. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 18,418 shares in the company, valued at $5,580,469.82. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.