Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Granite Investment Partners LLC

Granite Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 170,954 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,790 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.4% of Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is folding robotics‑software maker Intrinsic into Google, consolidating talent and tech from its “Other Bets” unit into the core business — a move that accelerates Google’s push into physical AI and could shorten commercialization timelines for robotics use cases. Former Alphabet ‘moonshot’ robotics company Intrinsic is folding into Google
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo is expanding on‑road testing to Chicago and Charlotte, signaling continued scaling of Waymo’s robotaxi commercialization efforts — potential long‑term revenue optionality and clearer path to monetization. Waymo to begin testing in Chicago and Charlotte
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini adoption is broadening: Samsung’s S26 demos show Gemini autonomously operating third‑party apps, underscoring device partnerships that expand distribution and revenue leverage for Google’s AI stack. Samsung’s S26 gives an advance look at what the Google-powered Apple Siri could do
• Positive Sentiment: Google announced a major clean‑power/data‑center push (1.9GW) including a 100‑hour iron‑battery, and related utility deals — improves energy resilience and long‑term margin/cost profile for hyperscale data centers. Google’s new 1.9GW clean energy deal includes massive 100-hour battery
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded Alphabet to a stronger rating, supporting bullish analyst sentiment that can attract flows and underwrite higher multiples. Wells Fargo upgrades Alphabet (GOOG)
• Positive Sentiment: Analysis highlighting Alphabet’s hidden assets (stakes in Anthropic and SpaceX) reinforces a view of embedded upside beyond core Search/Cloud performance. Alphabet’s Quiet Edge: The Hidden Assets Powering Its Run
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reports Google will test showing rivals’ vertical search results more prominently across Europe to try to head off an EU antitrust fine — a pragmatic regulatory response but one that underscores ongoing legal risk in the region. Exclusive: Google to test changes to search results, source says as EU fine looms
• Neutral Sentiment: Google said it disrupted a China‑linked hacking group that targeted dozens of organizations — improves security posture and brand trust but has limited direct near‑term revenue impact. Google disrupts Chinese-linked hackers that attacked 53 groups globally
• Negative Sentiment: Russia fined Google ~22 million roubles for distributing VPN services on Google Play — a small hit financially but a reminder of geopolitical/regulatory costs in certain markets. Russia fines Google distributing VPN services, TASS reports
• Negative Sentiment: Headline noise: a report of insider selling and periodic short‑interest chatter has pressured sentiment in recent sessions; these items can weigh near‑term momentum even if fundamentals remain strong. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 1% on Insider Selling

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.90.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $313.03 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $350.15. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $321.36 and its 200-day moving average is $281.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The company’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total value of $10,637,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,211,872 shares in the company, valued at $723,945,705.60. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock worth $119,145,289. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.