Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 20.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,472 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,398 shares during the quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,927,821,000 after buying an additional 5,182,111 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased 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 acquiring an additional 2,428,266 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $19,022,926,000 after acquiring an additional 441,177 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 6.4% during the second quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 35,357,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,272,146,000 after acquiring an additional 2,117,990 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $5,588,323,000 after purchasing an additional 695,736 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $34,680.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,307 shares in the company, valued at $6,224,380. The trade was a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total value of $202,512.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,163,524.48. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,037,964 shares of company stock worth $95,259,727. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $343.47.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $331.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $322.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $269.91. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share 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 36.21%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 currently 8.28%.

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.