Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 27.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,411 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 78,976 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.2% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $65,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 6,153 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,496,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 4,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 7,615 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 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: Analysts remain constructive — Wells Fargo kept an overweight rating (while trimming targets), and other outlets highlight Buy/Outperform views that point to meaningful upside from cloud/AI monetization. Wells Fargo Raised the PT on Alphabet Inc (GOOGL), Maintains a Buy Rating
- Positive Sentiment: Product/efficiency wins: Google’s Gemma 4 and the TurboQuant algorithm reduce model memory needs and improve on‑device/model efficiency — strengthens competitive moat and could lower operating costs for AI services. Google’s Gemma 4 brings AI superpowers to your device Google’s TurboQuant Breakthrough Just Rewrote the AI Playbook
- Positive Sentiment: Fundamental/earnings confidence: coverage from Zacks and others flags Alphabet’s earnings growth and price strength as reasons to watch the stock heading into earnings season. Earnings Growth & Price Strength Make Alphabet (GOOGL) a Stock to Watch
- Neutral Sentiment: Talent movement: Broadcom named Alphabet executive Amie Thuener as its next CFO — notable departure to monitor but not an immediate earnings event. Broadcom taps Alphabet executive Amie Thuener as next CFO
- Negative Sentiment: Regulatory probe in Turkey: the Turkish Competition Board opened an investigation into Google’s advertising and billing practices — potential fines, business restrictions or remediation costs could hit ad revenue/operations in the region. Turkey launches investigation into Google over advertising, billing practices
- Negative Sentiment: Legal risk rises as Section 230 liability narrows: recent court losses for platforms (including YouTube/Google units) increase the probability of costly litigation and moderation compliance burdens. Meta, Google under attack as court cases bypass 30-year-old legal shield
- Negative Sentiment: Near‑term cash‑flow and capex concern: industry commentary warns that hyperscaler AI capex could push Google’s free cash flow toward zero next year — elevates execution and financing risk until monetization of AI investments scales. Semianalysis CEO: Google’s free cash flow will hit zero next year from AI capex
- Negative Sentiment: Operational/ESG risk from data‑center power strategy: reporting that hyperscalers (including Google) are building large natural‑gas plants to power AI centers raises reputational, regulatory and long‑term transition risks. AI companies are building huge natural gas plants to power data centers. What could go wrong?
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: an SEC filing shows a senior exec sold ~9k shares in late March — modest in dollar terms but can be read negatively by short‑term traders. Insider Selling: Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Insider Sells 8,993 Shares of Stock
Alphabet Price Performance
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last announced 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 business 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,101,844 shares of company stock worth $115,147,751. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, February 9th. New Street Research increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Moffett Nathanson raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.33.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on GOOGL
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.
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