Ritholtz Wealth Management Purchases 3,851 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 156,290 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,851 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.9% of Ritholtz Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $48,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $416,217,000. Sovran Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,241 shares in the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,277,000 after purchasing an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,171,000 after purchasing an additional 8,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,666,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $405,131,000 after purchasing an additional 60,831 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,187,638.65. The trade was a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total value of $33,934.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,580,469.82. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,037,294 shares of company stock valued at $94,216,897. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 13th. China Renaissance boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $397.00 to $361.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.67.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $338.89 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.84 and a fifty-two week high of $349.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $308.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $303.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled two eighth‑generation TPUs (separate chips for training and inference), a move that could lower AI infrastructure costs and help Google Cloud compete with Nvidia. This product push underpins revenue and margin upside in cloud/AI services. Google Cloud launches two new AI chips to compete with Nvidia
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet amplified its enterprise AI strategy at Cloud Next — launching the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform and a $750M partner fund to accelerate agentic AI adoption. That accelerates monetization paths for AI in Google Cloud. Google makes an interesting choice with its new agent building tool for enterprises
• Positive Sentiment: Large commercial deals are following: Merck committed up to $1B to use Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise, validating enterprise demand and multiyear revenue potential for cloud AI services. Merck to partner with Google Cloud on AI initiatives
• Positive Sentiment: Several sell‑side firms raised targets or reiterated bullish views (BMO to $410, UBS up to $375, Cantor to $395, KeyCorp to $380; JPMorgan and BofA reiterated Buy), signaling analyst confidence in Cloud + AI-driven growth ahead of Q1 results. BMO Raises Alphabet’s Target to $410 and Calls It “the Best Way to Own AI”
• Neutral Sentiment: Google is rolling consumer and workplace AI features (Wallet travel updates, Workspace automation, Chrome “auto browse”) that expand product engagement but are longer‑term monetization plays. Google updates Workspace to make AI your new office intern
• Neutral Sentiment: Independent bullish commentary (e.g., investor columns and pundit targets like Jim Cramer) support investor conviction but are opinion‑driven rather than new fundamentals. Jim Cramer sets Google stock price target
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators are pressuring Google to give rival AI assistants access to Android features — a potential regulatory move that could weaken Android‑centric advantages and complicate Google’s ad/assistant ecosystem. Google Faces New EU Pressure to Give AI Rivals Android Access
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling was reported, which briefly pressured shares; while not necessarily indicative of fundamentals, it can spook short‑term sentiment ahead of earnings. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

About Alphabet

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.