J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 106,989 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,330 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $26,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the second quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 44,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,936,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the second quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 85,356 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,141,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% in the second quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 483,518 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,771,000 after acquiring an additional 20,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 888,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $157,628,000 after acquiring an additional 15,155 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $330.83.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $340.70 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $321.78 and its 200 day moving average is $269.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $350.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Waymo’s $16 billion funding round and $126B valuation bolster Alphabet’s optionality in autonomous mobility and unlock value outside core ads — a major positive signal for long-term growth investors. Waymo valued at $126 billion in latest financing
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is signing multi-year AI deals (Liberty Global) and commercial deployments (Humana), validating monetization of Gemini and enterprise AI adoption. Google Cloud, Liberty Global strike five-year AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street momentum: several analyst upgrades and raised price targets ahead of earnings reflect confidence in Search/Cloud/AI revenue leverage. Top Mizuho Analyst Raises Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock Price Target Ahead of Q4 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional and thematic buyers (Crossmark, Sumitomo Mitsui, ARK additions) show continued allocation into Alphabet amid the AI thematic. Fund Update: Crossmark Global Holdings, Inc. Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 earnings are due after the close Feb. 4 and options imply a sizable move — results and guidance will likely drive the next major direction. Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock: What Wall Street Expects from Earnings Wednesday
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data in these feeds is noisy/zeroed (likely reporting artifacts) and currently provides no clear bearish signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider and some institutional selling: recent filings show the CAO sold shares and several funds trimmed positions — persistent insider sales can weigh on sentiment near costly valuations. SEC insider filing
• Negative Sentiment: Covers and worry pieces highlight high valuation and the risk of a near-term pullback if AI monetization or ad growth disappoints — investor expectations are elevated. Why Google Stock Faces A Near-Term Pullback
• Negative Sentiment: Collateral concerns: Disney disclosed a YouTube TV-related hit, a reminder of distribution and carriage risks for YouTube/TV businesses. Disney said it took a $110 million hit from its fight with YouTube TV

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total transaction of $9,640,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,304,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $683,642,180.16. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at $2,798,832.60. This represents a 23.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 2,037,964 shares of company stock worth $95,259,727 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.