Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Bought by Legacy Trust

Legacy Trust raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 28.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Legacy Trust’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Higgins & Schmidt Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% in the third quarter. Higgins & Schmidt Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,813 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Meritas Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Meritas Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integral Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,104 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total value of $31,971.90. Following the sale, the director owned 18,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,706,357.25. The trade was a 0.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 192,687 shares of company stock valued at $58,728,068 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major commercial validation — Apple’s decision to use Google’s Gemini to power the next-generation Siri is being treated as a high-margin licensing win and a distribution multiplier for Gemini; MarketBeat highlights this deal as a key catalyst behind Alphabet clearing a $4 trillion market cap. Alphabet Tops $4 Trillion Valuation as AI Momentum Runs HotMarketBeat: Alphabet Tops $4 Trillion Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum — DeepMind and Google product teams are working closely (DeepMind CEO says daily dialogue with Google CEO) as Gemini and other AI features (e.g., Personal Intelligence) accelerate integration across Google apps — supports revenue/monetization pathways. DeepMind CEO is talking to Google CEO ‘every day’ as lab ramps up competition with OpenAICNBC: DeepMind/Google collaboration
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and market momentum — Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets (Goldman, BofA, Wells Fargo, Cantor, Jefferies) plus bullish media commentary (including Jim Cramer) are supporting investor sentiment and inflows. Is Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) The Most Profitable US Stock to Buy?InsiderMonkey: analyst coverage & targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Commercial pilots & partnerships — Google will power agentic AI for Woolworths’ Olive chatbot in Australia later this year, a useful commercial test but limited near-term revenue impact. Do Woolworths shoppers want Google AI adding items to buy? We’ll soon find outTechXplore: Woolworths pilot
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector tailwinds — Large forecasts for AI spending boost the long-term thesis for hyperscalers, but they also imply higher capex and competitive intensity across cloud and GPU suppliers. NVDA, GOOGL, META: AI Spending Forecast to Hit $2.53 Trillion This YearTipRanks: AI spending forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk — Google asked a U.S. judge to pause an order forcing it to share data with rivals while it appeals an antitrust ruling; litigation outcomes could materially affect search economics and competitive positioning. Google asks US judge to defer order forcing it to share data while it appealsReuters: appeal to defer data-sharing order
• Negative Sentiment: AI training litigation — Major publishers are seeking to join a class-action suit alleging Google used copyrighted works to train AI models; potential damages, injunctions or limits on training data could raise costs and slow model development. Publishers seek to join lawsuit against Google over AI trainingReuters: publishers move to join lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling & operational constraints — Reports show heavy insider sales (including large Sundar Pichai stock disposals) and Alphabet warns U.S. electrical transmission bottlenecks are slowing data‑centre hookups, which could constrain capacity growth for cloud/AI workloads. Insider selling and lobbying disclosureQuiverQuant: insider sales / lobbying • Google says US transmission system is biggest challenge for connecting data centersReuters: data-center transmission constraints

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Pivotal Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $320.31.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $330.34 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $341.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.28%.

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.