Fernbridge Capital Management LP Makes New $20.97 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Fernbridge Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 86,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,973,000. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.0% of Fernbridge Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, S&T Bank PA grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 40.2% during the 2nd quarter. S&T Bank PA now owns 345 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Roundup

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total transaction of $33,934.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,580,469.82. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total transaction of $184,038.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,325,999.52. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock worth $118,605,094 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $348.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.18.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $302.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $349.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $319.12 and a 200-day moving average of $289.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given 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 currently 7.77%.

Alphabet Company 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.