Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,692,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 147,905 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.6% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,386,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Searle & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 5,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 5,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the third quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 7,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $298.30 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $350.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. 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 the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large enterprise/cloud wins and AI demand: Google Cloud deals (CVS health AI platform) and reported TPU leasing by Meta point to higher recurring cloud revenue and infrastructure utilization that support near‑term revenue growth. CVS taps Google Cloud Meta leases Google TPUs
• Positive Sentiment: Solid fundamentals/analyst support: Q4 results and earnings beats reinforce the “quality growth” narrative, and Bank of America’s reiterated Buy/$370 target keeps bull case intact. Q4 quality growth Bank of America maintains $370
• Neutral Sentiment: Anthropic access clarified: Google says Anthropic remains available for non‑defense uses after a DoD blacklist — this reduces near‑term disruption risk to customers but leaves policy uncertainty around defense contracts. Google on Anthropic availability
• Neutral Sentiment: Market narrative shifting: Analysts note GOOG’s strong 12‑month run has moved it from a “value” label to an execution/AI‑growth story — bullish if growth continues, but raises expectations. Forbes valuation piece
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical / physical risk to infrastructure: Reports that hyperscaler data centers are becoming military targets in the Iran war increase operational and security risk for cloud operations and potential outages. Data centers targeted
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal headwinds and fee cuts: The Epic Games settlement (lower Play Store commissions) and a high‑profile Gemini wrongful‑death lawsuit raise revenue/margin and liability concerns for consumer services. Play Store settlement Gemini lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory scrutiny on Waymo / AV safety and technical/short‑term chart pressure: NTSB/industry scrutiny of autonomous‑vehicle safety plus technical analysts calling a short thesis add to near‑term selling pressure. Waymo NTSB scrutiny Chart short thesis

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock worth $118,605,094. 12.99% of the stock is 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.