AdvisorShares Investments LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $592,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,298,572,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the second 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 73.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,808,152 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,388,775,000 after acquiring an additional 4,154,929 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 17,547.9% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,122,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $731,331,000 after acquiring an additional 4,099,366 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 330.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,989,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $707,691,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062,590 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s results and AI traction remain strong: Cloud revenue and enterprise backlog are accelerating and Gemini user metrics/support drive upside to long‑term monetization. Zacks: The Zacks Analyst Alphabet…
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo deployment of next‑gen robotaxis signals commercial progress for Alphabet’s autonomous‑vehicle unit, a longer‑term growth catalyst. CNBC: Waymo begins deploying next‑gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Some large asset managers are net buying while others trimmed positions — BNP Paribas added a multi‑million share position in GOOG, offsetting other institutional reductions. QuiverQuant: BNP Paribas fund update
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest figures in recent feeds show zero shares (likely a data anomaly), so shorting activity is not a clear driver today.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet completed a very large multi‑currency debt offering (including long‑dated tranches/century bond reports), which has spooked some investors worried about aggressive debt‑funded CapEx and the lack of customary bond protections. Reuters: Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails…
• Negative Sentiment: Management guided 2026 CapEx sharply higher (~$175–$185B), and the market has treated that as a near‑term cash‑flow/headwind risk despite its AI rationale — this contributed to post‑earnings weakness. Zacks: Alphabet drops 7% post Q4 earnings
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust scrutiny has resurfaced: regulators are probing Google’s search‑ads auction/pricing practices in Europe, introducing regulatory risk for ad monetization. Reuters: Google targeted by EU over search advertising auction practices
• Negative Sentiment: Notable institutional trimming reported in 13F updates (e.g., Neuberger, Swiss National Bank saw reductions), which can pressure intraday liquidity/psychology even as other funds add exposure. QuiverQuant: Neuberger Berman fund update

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total transaction of $10,893,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,179,372 shares in the company, valued at $730,481,906.96. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,069,864 shares of company stock worth $105,985,041. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $306.02 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $350.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

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.