Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Clearstead Trust LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Clearstead Trust LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,398 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,061 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 2.6% of Clearstead Trust LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brooktree Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $352,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 23.6% during the third quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,401,000 after buying an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the second quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Centerpoint Advisory Group boosted its position in Alphabet by 21.0% during the second quarter. Centerpoint Advisory Group now owns 2,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $298.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $319.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $286.87. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the sale, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,244,372 shares in the company, valued at $720,914,730.12. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large cloud commercial win — CVS will deploy an AI‑enabled health platform on Google Cloud, validating enterprise demand for recurring cloud/AI revenue and supporting the Google Cloud/Gemini growth story. CVS taps Google Cloud
• Positive Sentiment: AI partnership continuity — Google said Anthropic will remain available for non‑defense projects after DoD actions, limiting disruption to Alphabet’s access to Anthropic models and enterprise AI offerings. Google says Anthropic remains available
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional support — Robert W. Baird lifted its price target to $380 and other firms have boosted targets/ratings recently, reinforcing buy narratives and upside vs. the current price. Baird raises price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Small insider sales — filings show modest sales by a director and the CAO; routine disclosures that markets note but are not large enough to signal strategic conviction changes. SEC filing — insider sales
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary on recent pullback — coverage (e.g., Zacks) highlights the stock’s slide since earnings and asks whether it can rebound, offering investor viewpoints but no new company fundamentals. Zacks — can it rebound?
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/PR overhang: a wrongful‑death lawsuit alleges harmful guidance from the Gemini chatbot, raising potential liability, regulatory scrutiny and reputational risk for Alphabet’s core AI investment thesis. Gemini wrongful‑death lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Autonomous‑vehicle scrutiny — the NHTSA/NHTSA‑led safety forum and ongoing probes into Waymo incidents increase regulatory risk and operational uncertainty for the self‑driving unit. NHTSA self‑driving safety forum
• Negative Sentiment: App store revenue pressure — a settlement with Epic lowered Play Store commission rates (to ~20% + up to 5%), which could modestly reduce Play‑ecosystem take rates and near‑term revenue. Play Store commission cut
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical pressure — recent tensions and tech pullbacks in affected markets (e.g., Dubai exposure) are weighing on large‑cap tech multiples, contributing to negative sentiment around GOOGL. Tech offices respond to U.S.-Iran tensions

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $348.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.18.

Alphabet Company 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.