LGT Group Foundation Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

LGT Group Foundation lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 323,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,346 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.9% of LGT Group Foundation’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $79,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,927,821,000 after buying an additional 5,182,111 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,511,477,000 after buying an additional 2,428,266 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,022,926,000 after acquiring an additional 441,177 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after acquiring an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 6.4% in the second quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 35,357,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,272,146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117,990 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total value of $9,859,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,674,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $508,028,012.80. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock worth $118,605,094. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average 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: Strong AI thesis: multiple analyst and retail pieces argue Alphabet’s Google Gemini, search/ads integration, and cloud AI position make it a top long‑term AI play — supporting upside if execution continues. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional/strategic endorsements: coverage notes continued demand for Google Cloud and partnerships that underpin recurring revenue for AI and infrastructure. These narratives support analyst price targets and long‑term estimates. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish heavyweight backing persists: high‑profile investors (e.g., Bill Ackman) remain constructive on Alphabet even after trimming positions, signaling confidence in the company’s fundamentals. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst landscape: the street remains largely bullish with many buy/strong‑buy ratings and price targets above current levels — positive for sentiment but raises expectations that Alphabet must meet. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry ecosystem moves: Broadcom’s AI chip roadmap highlights multi‑year partnerships (including Google) that could lower hardware risk for large AI deployments — supportive but not an immediate revenue driver for Alphabet itself. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Governance/compensation shock: Alphabet approved a potential $692M pay package for CEO Sundar Pichai that is tied to Waymo/Wing targets — investors pushed back on the size and optics, prompting selling and concern about capital allocation to “Other Bets.” Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Sundar Pichai sold additional shares (~32,500) in recent filings — repeated insider sales are amplifying near‑term negative sentiment even if they follow pre‑set plans. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/rotation pressure: cyclical moves (oil spike and rotation out of mega‑cap tech) and technical selling are intensifying short‑term downside even as fundamentals remain intact. Read More.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.9%

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

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Alphabet 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.