Davis Selected Advisers Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Davis Selected Advisers lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,770,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 83,819 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.5% of Davis Selected Advisers’ holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Davis Selected Advisers’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $673,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $21,944,208,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,338,397,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17,667.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,686,640,000 after acquiring an additional 15,159,273 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 28.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 10,843,853 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,244,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,914,730.12. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. This trade represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $301.00 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $317.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $292.57. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $349.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 7.77%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind hired Jasjeet Sekhon, Bridgewater’s chief scientist, as chief strategy officer — a high‑profile talent win that reinforces Alphabet’s DeepMind AI bench and long‑term product roadmap. Exclusive: Bridgewater’s chief scientist Sekhon to join Google’s DeepMind AI unit
• Positive Sentiment: High‑profile endorsement: Elon Musk tweeted that Google will “win the AI race in the West,” a bullish signal for market perception of Alphabet’s AI leadership. Elon Musk Says China Will Win The AI Race, But Here’s Where SpaceX Will Win
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum: Google’s new “Stitch” AI design features are pressuring rivals (e.g., Figma’s stock fell), underscoring expanding addressable market for Google’s AI tools. Figma’s stock drops 11% in two days after Google releases ‘vibe design’ product
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlights Alphabet’s operational strength (consecutive earnings beats, Cloud acceleration), supporting the bullish analyst consensus and relative outperformance among mega‑caps. 2 Tech Giants Holding Their Ground While the Market Slides
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales disclosed: CEO Sundar Pichai sold ~32,500 shares (~$10M) and Director John Hennessy sold a small stake — notable but small relative to total insider holdings; monitor if these continue. Insider filing: Sundar Pichai sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in the feeds appears anomalous/zero and provides no clear signal (no days‑to‑cover build reported).
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive takes: Analysts compare Snowflake and Alphabet on cloud analytics — SNOW’s momentum is notable but doesn’t negate Google Cloud’s growth trajectory. Snowflake vs Alphabet: Which Cloud Analytics Stock Has an Edge Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern about massive hyperscaler AI spending — analysts flag $410B+ capex across hyperscalers and question near‑term returns, a theme that can pressure tech multiples including GOOGL. Forget the War Headlines: This Is the Real Reason Tech Stocks Are Struggling
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation debate persists: coverage notes shifting investment story as AI deals and capex raise questions about near‑term upside despite solid fundamentals. How The Alphabet (GOOGL) Investment Story Is Shifting With AI Deals And Valuation Questions

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price objective for the company. President Capital raised their price objective on Alphabet from $323.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.18.

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.