Equitable Trust Co. Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 168,894 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,248 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.9% of Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 20.9% during the third quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 23,371 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,692,000 after acquiring an additional 4,038 shares during the last quarter. Curtis Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Curtis Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,847 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,616,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. ROI Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $247,000. Alteri Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 10,798 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TSA Wealth Managment LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.4% during the third quarter. TSA Wealth Managment LLC now owns 1,288 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total transaction of $10,637,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,211,872 shares in the company, valued at $723,945,705.60. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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. Insiders have sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock worth $119,145,289 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is folding robotics‑software maker Intrinsic into Google, consolidating talent and tech from its “Other Bets” unit into the core business — a move that accelerates Google’s push into physical AI and could shorten commercialization timelines for robotics use cases. Former Alphabet ‘moonshot’ robotics company Intrinsic is folding into Google
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo is expanding on‑road testing to Chicago and Charlotte, signaling continued scaling of Waymo’s robotaxi commercialization efforts — potential long‑term revenue optionality and clearer path to monetization. Waymo to begin testing in Chicago and Charlotte
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini adoption is broadening: Samsung’s S26 demos show Gemini autonomously operating third‑party apps, underscoring device partnerships that expand distribution and revenue leverage for Google’s AI stack. Samsung’s S26 gives an advance look at what the Google-powered Apple Siri could do
• Positive Sentiment: Google announced a major clean‑power/data‑center push (1.9GW) including a 100‑hour iron‑battery, and related utility deals — improves energy resilience and long‑term margin/cost profile for hyperscale data centers. Google’s new 1.9GW clean energy deal includes massive 100-hour battery
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded Alphabet to a stronger rating, supporting bullish analyst sentiment that can attract flows and underwrite higher multiples. Wells Fargo upgrades Alphabet (GOOG)
• Positive Sentiment: Analysis highlighting Alphabet’s hidden assets (stakes in Anthropic and SpaceX) reinforces a view of embedded upside beyond core Search/Cloud performance. Alphabet’s Quiet Edge: The Hidden Assets Powering Its Run
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reports Google will test showing rivals’ vertical search results more prominently across Europe to try to head off an EU antitrust fine — a pragmatic regulatory response but one that underscores ongoing legal risk in the region. Exclusive: Google to test changes to search results, source says as EU fine looms
• Neutral Sentiment: Google said it disrupted a China‑linked hacking group that targeted dozens of organizations — improves security posture and brand trust but has limited direct near‑term revenue impact. Google disrupts Chinese-linked hackers that attacked 53 groups globally
• Negative Sentiment: Russia fined Google ~22 million roubles for distributing VPN services on Google Play — a small hit financially but a reminder of geopolitical/regulatory costs in certain markets. Russia fines Google distributing VPN services, TASS reports
• Negative Sentiment: Headline noise: a report of insider selling and periodic short‑interest chatter has pressured sentiment in recent sessions; these items can weigh near‑term momentum even if fundamentals remain strong. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 1% on Insider Selling

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.90.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of GOOG opened at $313.03 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $321.36 and a 200 day moving average of $281.87. The company has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 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 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 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given 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 payout ratio is 7.77%.

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.