Hantz Financial Services Inc. Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Hantz Financial Services Inc. cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 137,451 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 46,345 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $33,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $4,298,572,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,927,821,000 after acquiring an additional 5,182,111 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Alphabet by 73.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,808,152 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,388,775,000 after acquiring an additional 4,154,929 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 17,547.9% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,122,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $731,331,000 after acquiring an additional 4,099,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Alphabet by 330.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,989,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $707,691,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062,590 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and Cloud strength — Alphabet’s Q4 results and analyst takeaways highlighted robust revenue, a fast‑growing Google Cloud (high revenue and margin expansion) and bullish analyst upgrades, reinforcing growth expectations. Alphabet Q4 Takeaway: Doubling Down On Cloud And AI Investments Should Pay Off
• Positive Sentiment: Big bond raise to fund AI buildout — Alphabet is tapping the U.S. high‑grade bond market (reported plan ~ $15B) to fund AI infrastructure and capex, which investors view as backing for long‑term AI monetization. Alphabet’s debt raise fuels forecasts for record year in corporate bond sales
• Positive Sentiment: Legal win limits damages — A court ruling trimmed a previously reported $2.36B penalty tied to past data‑collection practices, reducing near‑term legal overhang. Alphabet (GOOGL)’s Legal Ruling Limits Damages, Analysts Remain Constructive
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo autonomous expansion — Waymo announced fully autonomous operations in Nashville, a concrete execution step for its robotaxi business that supports long‑term service/monetization upside. Waymo goes fully autonomous in Nashville
• Positive Sentiment: Long‑term power deal for data centers — TotalEnergies signed long‑term solar supply pacts to power Google’s Texas data centers, helping secure lower‑cost, sustainable power for AI compute growth. TotalEnergies to provide solar power to Google’s Texas data centres
• Neutral Sentiment: Management flags AI risks even as it raises debt — Alphabet added new AI‑related risk disclosures (including potential ad impacts and long‑duration commercial contracts) in annual filings; investors are parsing how these qualitative risks map to longer‑term revenue/cost outcomes. Alphabet calls out new AI-related risks, as it taps debt market to fund buildout
• Negative Sentiment: New trademark lawsuit over AI video tools — Autodesk sued Google alleging trademark infringement around AI video software branding, adding another legal distraction with unclear but potentially incremental costs. Google sued by Autodesk over AI-powered movie-making software
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling headlines — Recent disclosure of CEO and other insider stock sales adds a near‑term headline risk that some traders watch, though such sales have been frequent historically. Insider Selling: Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sells $10,893,350.00 in Stock

Alphabet Stock Up 0.4%

GOOG stock opened at $324.40 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $322.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.01, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.10. 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 twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 2,070,464 shares of company stock worth $106,153,077 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.47.

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.