Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,066,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 17,574 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.3% of Congress Asset Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $333,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $31,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Corsicana & Co. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $274.34 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $349.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $313.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117 over the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and price-target raises reinforce bullish medium-term views — Wells Fargo raised its price target and kept an Overweight rating, and Needham reaffirmed its Buy with a $400 target; MarketBeat and other outlets note heavy analyst upgrading of GOOGL. These moves support upside expectations despite short-term weakness. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI innovation (TurboQuant / Gemini traction) is being framed as a competitive advantage — the company’s new compression research and Gemini adoption could lower AI operating costs and drive product differentiation, strengthening long-term revenue prospects. This is part of why some analysts lifted estimates and price targets. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals remain solid: recent earnings beat, robust cloud growth and advertising resilience provide a valuation anchor and a reason many institutions view pullbacks as buying opportunities. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical correction — the stock has moved below $300 and broken key short-term support, which can amplify volatility even if the longer-term trend stays intact; investors should watch $280–$260 support zones. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Executive departure in India: Google’s top India counsel resigned amid ongoing regulatory challenges in a key market, a factor to monitor for regional regulatory execution but not an immediate earnings driver. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Landmark jury verdicts finding YouTube/Google liable in social-media addiction cases have created legal overhang and the possibility of broader litigation or regulatory exposure — courts and commentators compare potential fallout to past “Big Tobacco”-style settlements, increasing perceived legal risk for Alphabet. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: New lawsuits allege Google’s search/AI features disclosed personal information of Jeffrey Epstein victims; such privacy/AI-related claims add another legal/regulatory headline that can pressure sentiment and increase potential litigation costs or product changes. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech selloff — geopolitical war worries and landmark Meta legal losses have sparked rotation out of large-cap tech this week, amplifying Alphabet’s decline despite company-specific strengths. Market risk sentiment is a near-term headwind. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group set a $348.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $325.00) 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-four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.06.

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.