Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Academy Capital Management

Academy Capital Management lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 169,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,539 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 5.9% of Academy Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Academy Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Saranac Partners Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the third quarter. Saranac Partners Ltd now owns 41,146 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 2,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Severin Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 4,519 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,098,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 269,379 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $65,486,000 after acquiring an additional 4,613 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 128,858 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,330,000 after acquiring an additional 6,444 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% 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, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,079,982 shares of company stock valued at $109,267,889 over the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. New Street Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Loop Capital upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $260.00 to $320.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.86.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2%

GOOGL opened at $302.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $320.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $277.46. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $349.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors 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 yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google and Apple are adding music-focused generative-AI features to core apps, showing Alphabet’s AI tech is moving into mainstream consumer experiences that can drive engagement and ad/licensing opportunities. Google Gemini, Apple add music-focused generative AI features
• Positive Sentiment: Google will develop AI tools with Sea Ltd for e-commerce and gaming in Southeast Asia — a tie-up that expands Google Cloud and AI reach in high-growth markets, boosting potential cloud revenue. Google, Shopee-owner Sea to develop AI tools for e-commerce, gaming
• Positive Sentiment: Industry mega-deals like the NVIDIA–Meta expansion reinforce massive, multiyear demand for AI compute — a tailwind for Google Cloud (inference/deployment demand) as hyperscalers lock in infrastructure spending. NVIDIA and Meta Deepen Their AI Alliance
• Positive Sentiment: Big investors remain supportive: Berkshire Hathaway kept its Alphabet stake in recent filings and other high-profile investors (e.g., David Tepper) have increased exposure — signals of institutional confidence in Alphabet’s cloud/AI strategy. Berkshire & AI Hyperscalers: Buffett Holds GOOGL, Dumps AMZN
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking Holdings’ stock-split/earnings story spotlights Google’s Travel/AI booking capabilities — the piece underscores competitive dynamics (Google can disintermediate travel booking) but it’s more relevant as industry context than an immediate revenue swing for Alphabet. Booking Holdings Split: The Catalyst Wall Street Didn’t See Coming
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director John Hennessy sold 600 shares (filed in mid-February) — a small but visible insider sale that can amplify short-term selling narratives. Alphabet Director John Hennessy Sells 600 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo/regulatory and operational noise: New York regulatory shifts and scrutiny around remote-assistance in robotaxis constrain Waymo’s expansion and keep a regulatory overhang on Alphabet’s AV ambitions. New York Gov. Hochul drops robotaxi service proposal for outside NYC
• Negative Sentiment: Service reliability and cost concerns: A YouTube outage and commentary about Alphabet’s heavy CapEx for AI compute contribute to short-term profit-taking and worries about near-term margins. YouTube outage hits over 32,000 users

About Alphabet

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.