Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 17.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,641 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,781 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 145.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 196 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 100.0% in the second quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total transaction of $10,637,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,211,872 shares in the company, valued at $723,945,705.60. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock worth $119,145,289 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $310.92 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $350.15. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.10. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 7.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price target (up from $355.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $343.90.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large clean‑energy / data‑center deals: Google announced a 1.9GW Minnesota data‑center project backed by long‑duration batteries (including a 300MW / 100‑hour Form Energy system) and has power agreements (Xcel, AES) to support new sites — this reduces energy/supply risk for massive AI compute buildouts and supports long‑term margin/capex efficiency. Google’s new 1.9GW clean energy deal includes massive 100-hour battery Xcel Energy to power new Google data center in Minnesota
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic energy bet headlines: commentary frames Google’s moves (including reports calling it a multibillion/$100B‑scale bet on iron‑battery power) as a strategic solution to AI compute’s electricity constraints — viewed as a structural positive for scaling Gemini and Cloud. Google Stock Gets Energized by $100 Billion Bet on Rust Power from Iron Batteries for Data Centers
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support / fundamental positives: Wells Fargo upgraded Alphabet to strong‑buy and several firms have raised price targets; separate features highlight Alphabet’s hidden assets (Anthropic stake, SpaceX exposure) that add optionality beyond core Search/Cloud. Those headlines underpin buy‑the‑dip flows. Wells Fargo upgrades Alphabet (GOOG) Alphabet’s Quiet Edge: The Hidden Assets Powering Its Run
• Neutral Sentiment: Debate over AI capex: research and social commentary flag an aggressive AI infrastructure build (bridgewater estimate of huge industry spending); some analysts view the capex as widening Alphabet’s moat, others worry short‑term free cash flow will be pressured — creates mixed near‑term sentiment/volatility. Alphabet: The AI CapEx Shock That Will Widen The Moat Big Tech to invest about $650 billion in AI in 2026, Bridgewater says
• Positive Sentiment: Security win: Google says it disrupted a China‑linked hacking group that targeted dozens of organizations — positive for enterprise trust in Google Cloud and corporate security posture. Google disrupts Chinese-linked hackers that attacked 53 groups globally
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling / governance optics: reports of significant insider sales (multiple senior executives, per aggregated trackers) and recent media coverage of insider selling can weigh on investor confidence and prompt short‑term selling. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 1% on Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory / country risk: Russia fined Google over VPN services (small fine monetarily but a reminder of geopolitical/regulatory friction in key markets). Russia fines Google for distributing VPN services, TASS reports

About Alphabet

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.