Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 4,392 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 375,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,392 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 4.9% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $117,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 8.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 73.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,808,152 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,388,775,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154,929 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $678,198,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $455,745,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,428,266 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom agreed to a long-term deal to design and supply custom AI chips and components for Google through 2031, strengthening Google’s control over its AI hardware stack and supporting Google Cloud’s cost and performance profile. Broadcom signs long-term deal to develop Google’s custom AI chips (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Prominent investors and coverage continue to highlight Alphabet as a top AI/long‑term buy (inclusions on “best S&P 500” lists and billionaire allocations), which supports demand from institutions and helps underpin multiple expansion narratives. Is Alphabet (GOOG) Among the Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy Right Now? (InsiderMonkey)
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street consensus remains constructive (average broker rating = Buy and many buy ratings remain), but some analysts have trimmed price targets recently — a mixed signal that keeps upside linked to execution on AI monetization and cloud. Alphabet Inc. Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages (AmericanBankingNews)
• Negative Sentiment: A New York Times analysis questions the accuracy and sourcing of Google’s AI‑generated “overviews,” raising reputational and potential regulatory risks that could affect user trust and ad/feature monetization if issues proliferate. How Accurate Are Google’s A.I. Overviews? (NYTimes)
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are pressing Big Tech (including Google) over water and power use for data centers, and shareholder resolutions seek more disclosure — any delays or community pushback on builds could slow capacity expansion or raise costs. Investors press Amazon, Microsoft and Google on water, power use in US data centers (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and investors note Alphabet’s very large planned capital spending (high‑hundreds of billions over coming years), which can pressure margins and free‑cash‑flow in the near term even as it funds AI scale — a tradeoff that could cap short‑term upside. Nobody Believed In Alphabet: In 2026, It Faces Its Biggest Test (Seeking Alpha)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $345.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total value of $9,877,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,818,524 shares in the company, valued at $856,605,814.08. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,101,844 shares of company stock worth $115,147,751. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $297.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $350.15. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $308.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $297.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

About Alphabet

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.