Formulate Financial LLC Takes $950,000 Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Formulate Financial LLC bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000. Alphabet makes up 1.2% of Formulate Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $344.90 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $321.44 and a 200 day moving average of $267.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $345.17.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud landed a five‑year AI partnership with Liberty Global to deploy Gemini models and cloud tools across the cable operator’s European business — a meaningful commercial win for Cloud and Gemini adoption that supports recurring revenue growth. Google Cloud, Liberty Global strike five-year AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo raised $16 billion in a round that values the unit near $126 billion — this large external financing both recognizes Waymo’s standalone value and de‑risks Alphabet’s capital commitment while preserving upside from a high‑value autonomous‑vehicle asset. Waymo announces $16 billion fundraising round
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet scored a legal win when a judge rejected a bid to force a $2.36B penalty — easing a sizeable regulatory/legal overhang. Google (GOOGL) Dodges $2.36B Class Action Penalty in Major Court Win
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to point to AI‑driven strength in Search, YouTube and Cloud as the main drivers for expected strong Q4 results, supporting investor optimism heading into earnings. Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock: What Wall Street Expects from Earnings Wednesday
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market pricing and analysts expect a sizable post‑earnings move (the options market is pricing notable volatility), meaning the stock can swing sharply after the Q4 report. Alphabet (GOOGL) Q4 Earnings on Deck: Options Market Braces for a 6.18% Swing
• Neutral Sentiment: Competition in generative AI (reports of an imminent Claude 5 launch) keeps the product landscape dynamic — a potential headwind or stimulus depending on execution and partnerships. Claude 5 Will Probably Launch In Q1
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in the latest print is uninformative (shows effectively zero days of short interest), indicating little visible short pressure but also potential data noise — not a clear driver either way.
• Negative Sentiment: Several institutional 13F filings show managers trimming GOOG positions and at least one major shareholder sale was reported (~$35M), signaling some profit‑taking after the stock’s strong run. Fund Update: PROVIDENT TRUST CO Just Disclosed New Holdings Alphabet Major Shareholder Sells
• Negative Sentiment: Critical commentary warns AI could create structural risks for ad models if monetization lags; plus a reported $110M hit to Disney from a YouTube TV carriage dispute underscores distribution/friction risks around media partners. Disney said it took a $110 million hit from its fight with YouTube TV Mag 7’s “Commitment” to Data Centers & GOOGL “Existential Crisis”

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $330.83.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total value of $10,383,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,272,119 shares in the company, valued at $725,942,020.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,069,531 shares of company stock valued at $104,158,826. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.