Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 261,897 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,192 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.3% of Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $63,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 157,439 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,273,000 after buying an additional 28,406 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $768,000. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 30.2% in the third quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. now owns 126,539 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,762,000 after acquiring an additional 29,319 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $4,338,397,000. Finally, Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the third quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,778,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,244,372 shares in the company, valued at $720,914,730.12. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Truist Financial set a $385.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, President Capital raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $323.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.18.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $302.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.10. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $349.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $319.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.81.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major competitor Meta has delayed a next‑generation AI release and reportedly discussed temporarily licensing Google’s Gemini model, which could help Alphabet expand usage/licensing of its AI stack and win incremental share. Meta delays release; may license Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company reaffirmed a “buy” on GOOGL and set a $400 price target (~32% upside from current levels), which can support investor confidence and buying interest. Needham reiterates buy
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlight Meta falling behind on large AI models (and considering licensing Google tech), reinforcing the view that Google could capture market share in foundational models and services. Meta falling behind — Yahoo
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Alphabet’s earnings growth and price strength as reasons to watch GOOGL, supporting a constructive fundamental view after recent results. Zacks: earnings growth & price strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Google, Amazon and Meta pushing their own AI chips signals a structural shift in AI infrastructure — a long‑term positive if Google’s stack wins, but it intensifies competition with incumbents like NVIDIA and may pressure margins/capex. AI chips competition — Yahoo
• Neutral Sentiment: Google sold a partial stake in its GFiber unit and partnered to form a new independent fiber provider; this reduces direct capital burden but also trims ownership of the broadband growth asset. GFiber stake sale — CNBC
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand/PR note: Google named its London HQ “Platform 37” referencing DeepMind/AlphaGo success — modestly positive for culture/AI branding but not material to near‑term financials. Platform 37 naming — Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulator and wider regulatory scrutiny on tech safety and child protection remain overhangs for Big Tech, including Alphabet, since new rules or enforcement could increase compliance costs or constrain certain services. UK regulator warning — Sky

Alphabet Profile

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.