Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by BTC Capital Management Inc.

BTC Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 150,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 13,195 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.5% of BTC Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $36,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $21,944,208,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17,667.7% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,640,000 after buying an additional 15,159,273 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 51.7% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,607,232,000 after buying an additional 10,843,853 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $91,033,300,000 after buying an additional 6,733,278 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Alphabet by 201.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,547,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,153,824,000 after buying an additional 4,374,542 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlights Alphabet’s “quiet edge” — big hidden assets (14% stake in Anthropic, an early SpaceX stake and massive device distribution) that amplify AI and cloud upside beyond Search and YouTube. Alphabet’s Quiet Edge: The Hidden Assets Powering Its Run
• Positive Sentiment: South Korea approved Google’s request to export high‑precision map data — clears a major market access barrier for Google Maps and mapping-related revenue/opportunity in Korea. South Korea approves Google bid to export high-precision map data
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Meta will rent Google’s TPU AI chips for model training — validation of Google’s AI infrastructure business and a potential multi‑billion revenue stream for cloud/TPU services. Google signs multibillion-dollar AI chip deal with Meta, Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet folded robotics unit Intrinsic into Google and signals Gemini may power next‑gen robots — deepens AI product integration and expands commercial AI addressable market. Alphabet’s robotics platform Intrinsic joins Google to support AI models
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Nano Banana 2 (image‑generation model) with faster, better outputs — product improvements that help retain user engagement across AI services. Google rolls out Nano Banana 2
• Positive Sentiment: Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller increased his Alphabet stake again — a notable institutional vote of confidence often read positively by the market. Druckenmiller Piled Into Alphabet
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other analyst pieces reiterate Alphabet’s AI‑fueled edge in Search and Cloud vs. Meta, reinforcing the consensus growth story but not changing near‑term guidance. Meta Platforms vs. Alphabet: Which Digital Ad Behemoth Has an Edge?
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo’s planned expansion toward Chicago signals long‑term commercialization progress but remains a multi‑year revenue story rather than an immediate profit driver. Waymo to bring driverless cars to Chicago
• Negative Sentiment: Belgian competition watchdog opened a probe into Google’s online ad pricing practices — regulatory and legal risk that could pressure ad revenue or require business changes. Belgian watchdog opens probe into Google’s online ad price practices
• Negative Sentiment: Internal tensions: 100+ Google AI employees urged limits on some military uses of Gemini, highlighting governance/ethical frictions that could complicate product deployment and public perception. Google Workers Seek ‘Red Lines’ on Military A.I.
• Negative Sentiment: Schaeffer’s options commentary warns bulls to watch for faltering action and offers a trade for subscribers — a signal some traders are positioning for short‑term downside or increased volatility. Bulls Should Keep Watch on Faltering Alphabet Stock

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,798,832.60. This trade represents a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total transaction of $10,637,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,211,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,945,705.60. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock worth $119,145,289. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

GOOGL stock opened at $311.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $349.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $320.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. 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 7.77%.

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.