Gagnon Securities LLC Acquires New Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Gagnon Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,932 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. WestEnd Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% in the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, January 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total transaction of $9,640,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,304,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $683,642,180.16. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 2,037,964 shares of company stock valued at $95,259,727 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Beat on results and cloud momentum — Q4 EPS and revenue topped consensus; Google Cloud grew ~48% and backlog jumped, while Gemini/user and token metrics point to accelerating AI monetization. Alphabet Crushes Earnings — MarketBeat
• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise traction and deals validate cloud/AI strategy — multi‑year customer agreements and growing cloud run‑rate support sustained revenue upside. Google Cloud, Liberty Global partnership — Reuters
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street still bullish on long‑term story — several analysts raised targets and reiterated conviction that Search, YouTube and Cloud + AI create durable growth optionality. Analyst price‑target moves (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly dividend announced ($0.21 per share; record/ex‑dividend dates set) — a small yield that may modestly broaden buyer base but is immaterial to core growth thesis.
• Neutral Sentiment: Rising capex is a strategic (not short‑term) signal — management frames spending as necessary to secure AI leadership; whether the ramp converts to sustainably higher margins will determine valuation re‑rating.
• Negative Sentiment: Massive 2026 CapEx guidance spooked markets — management guided ~$175–185B for 2026 (roughly double 2025), triggering concerns about near‑term returns and free cash‑flow dilution. CapEx guidance — Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and technical pressure — the stock sold off after hours/premarket and has tested the 50‑day moving average as investors booked gains and de‑risked into the capex surprise. Why stock is falling — MarketWatch
• Negative Sentiment: Insider/institutional selling and some position trims — SEC/13F filings and a spate of fund updates show net trimming by some holders, which can amplify near‑term downside on disappointing guidance. SEC insider filing

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $331.33 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $322.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $269.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.65, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 36.21%. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

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.