Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Argent Advisors Inc.

Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 16.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,680 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,349 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.2% of Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Moment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the period. Brooktree Capital Management bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 13.9% in the third quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,277,000 after purchasing an additional 7,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the second quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $305.72 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $349.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $321.19 and a 200-day moving average of $274.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Loop Capital upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $320.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Alphabet from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 price objective (up previously from $346.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $361.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,244,372 shares in the company, valued at $720,914,730.12. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,067,086 shares of company stock valued at $105,184,255 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and AI/cloud growth — Alphabet exceeded EPS and revenue expectations, Cloud revenue jumped ~48% and backlog expanded materially, supporting longer-term revenue and monetization from AI products. Alphabet’s Pullback: A Second Chance for Long-Term Investors?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism — Several firms raised price targets on GOOGL (noted lifts to $375 and $380), reflecting continued confidence in growth and upside vs. the recent pullback. Price Target Raised to $375 Price Target Raised to $380
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expansion — Waymo is deploying next‑gen Ojai robotaxis and using gig workers for door-closing operations, signaling commercial progress in autonomous mobility (long-term revenue optionality). Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong bond demand—but guardrails questioned — Alphabet’s recent global bond sale drew very strong demand (underscoring investor confidence), while commentary noted limited contractual protections for bondholders on a long‑dated issuance. This is liquidity/market-confidence positive but raises structural concerns for fixed‑income holders. Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails highlights investor confidence
• Neutral Sentiment: Century‑bond debate — Heavy demand for a 100‑year sterling bond signals long-duration appetite (positive for funding flexibility) but prompts caution about untested long‑dated issuance. Why Alphabet’s 100-year sterling bond is raising new fears Bond investors are betting on another 100 years of Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears unreliable — Reports show sudden increases but list zero shares and NaN changes (likely a data glitch); not a confirmed signal of rising short pressure. (internal short‑interest entries)
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust probe into search ad auctions — European regulators are investigating Google’s ad-auction practices and pricing, which could lead to fines, operational constraints in Europe, or forced changes to ad platform mechanics. Google targeted by EU over its search advertising auction practices Google hit by fresh EU antitrust probe
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and AI arms‑race fears — Alphabet’s large 2026 CapEx outlook (~$175–185B) and the broader AI infrastructure spend among hyperscalers have raised investor concern about free‑cash‑flow strain and near‑term margin/return pressures; that theme contributed to short‑term selling after earnings. Alphabet Drops 7% Post Q4 Earnings Mag 7 AI Arms Race: Heavy CapEx, FCF Strain
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness — Coverage notes that several mega‑cap tech names have softened (Magnificent Seven pressure), which amplifies selloffs in high‑multiple names like GOOGL even when fundamentals remain strong. Amazon Joins Microsoft in Bear Market

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.