Hoertkorn Richard Charles Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Hoertkorn Richard Charles cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,758 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,667 shares during the period. Hoertkorn Richard Charles’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,927,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,182,111 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,511,477,000 after buying an additional 2,428,266 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,022,926,000 after buying an additional 441,177 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the second quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 35,357,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,272,146,000 after acquiring an additional 2,117,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,503,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,588,323,000 after acquiring an additional 695,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong commercial traction for Gemini AI — reports show a surge in sales of Gemini models, supporting Alphabet’s AI revenue thesis and cloud monetization outlook. Google Sees Surge in Sales of Gemini AI Models
• Positive Sentiment: Usage growth: Gemini API calls have more than doubled in recent months, indicating rising developer and enterprise adoption that should help drive ad and cloud revenue over time. Gemini Usage Explodes as API Calls More than Double in Five Months
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street bullishness: several analysts raised targets this week (examples: UBS $345, RBC to $375, BofA $370), reinforcing upside expectations tied to AI advertising and cloud momentum. New Analyst Forecast: $GOOGL Given $345 Price Target RBC Raises Alphabet (GOOGL) Target on AI Advertising Momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/sector moves: Goldman and other banks are broadly boosting tech price targets, a tailwind for sentiment but not an immediate catalyst for price action. Goldman Sachs Raising Price Targets 10%+ on Tech and Financial Blue Chip Giants
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive longer-term narrative: multiple pieces highlight strong Q4 results, a large AI-driven cloud backlog and historical shareholder returns, supporting a constructive medium-term case. Investors’ Confidence Boosted Alphabet (GOOG) in Q4
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/headline risk: President Trump’s tariff rhetoric (Greenland) and EU tariff talk spurred a tech-led selloff that pressured GOOG alongside peers — a short-term headwind unrelated to fundamentals. NVDA, GOOGL, AMZN: Trump’s Greenland Gambit Rattles Big Tech as EU Weighs Salvo
• Negative Sentiment: Outperformance fade / profit-taking: coverage noted Alphabet fell more than the broader market today, reflecting profit-taking after strong 2025 gains. Here’s Why Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Fell More Than Broader Market
• Negative Sentiment: Isomorphic Labs delay: Google-backed drug-discovery unit pushed its first clinical trials to late 2026, trimming a speculative long-term upside driver. Google-backed AI drug discovery startup Isomorphic Labs delays clinical trial timeline
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling highlighted by data services (large recent insider disposals) can amplify short-term caution among some investors. New Analyst Forecast: $GOOGL Given $345 Price Target (insider data)

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $322.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $313.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $258.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $341.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. Loop Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $336.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $321.97.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total value of $800,786.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 11,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,884.14. This trade represents a 19.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 192,687 shares of company stock worth $58,728,068. 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.