Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 69,163 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 19.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 288,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 69,163 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 4.7% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $70,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $21,944,208,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 17,667.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,640,000 after purchasing an additional 15,159,273 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 51.7% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,607,232,000 after purchasing an additional 10,843,853 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $91,033,300,000 after purchasing an additional 6,733,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 201.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,547,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,153,824,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374,542 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $333.26 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $340.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $4.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $316.62 and its 200-day moving average is $261.78.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst actions and raised targets have lifted sentiment — RBC reaffirmed its “buy” rating, Needham kept a buy with a $330 target, Raymond James upgraded the stock, and at least one shop lifted its price target to $390, supporting higher valuations. MarketScreener: RBC remains its buy rating Alphabet Price Target Raised to $390
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile portfolio activity (the “Pelosi” filing) signaled continued conviction in large-cap tech/AI exposure via option-based leverage — a bullish sign that large investors are maintaining exposure to Alphabet while optimizing capital. Pelosi’s Bullish 2026 Buy List: AI, Power & Dividends
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s VC arm participated in a $200M funding round for AI video startup Synthesia, reinforcing the company’s continued strategic bets in the AI ecosystem and potential downstream product/partnership benefits for Google Cloud and AI services. Nvidia and Alphabet VC arms back Synthesia
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing Magnificent Seven coverage and bullish AI narratives continue to underpin market interest in large-cap AI leaders like Alphabet, but these are thematic tailwinds rather than company-specific catalysts. Seeking Alpha: Alphabet’s Big Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro and calendar risks (Fed decision, major tech earnings this week) are creating market-wide volatility that could affect GOOGL’s near-term moves independent of fundamentals. Nasdaq futures in the red ahead of big week
• Negative Sentiment: Google agreed to a preliminary $68M settlement in a class-action suit alleging its Assistant improperly recorded users — a modest but negative headline that adds legal/PR noise ahead of earnings (judge approval required). Google Agrees to Settle Class Action Lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Sundar Pichai sold roughly $10–11M of Alphabet shares recently (reported ahead of the Feb. 4 earnings date). Insider sales can be interpreted as routine diversification but may create short-term concern among some investors. Sundar Pichai Offloads Alphabet Shares

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total transaction of $31,971.90. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,706,357.25. The trade was a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total transaction of $202,512.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,163,524.48. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 222,409 shares of company stock valued at $68,564,532 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $224.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.60.

Alphabet Company 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.