ING Groep NV Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

ING Groep NV reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 20.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,558,132 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 391,532 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.1% of ING Groep NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $379,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 52,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,717,000 after purchasing an additional 10,578 shares during the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $343,000. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.5% during the third quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 56,210 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,690,000 after buying an additional 14,407 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,664,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westbourne Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.3% during the third quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. now owns 8,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,064,308 shares of company stock worth $104,383,469. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $343.90.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s results and AI traction remain strong: Cloud revenue and enterprise backlog are accelerating and Gemini user metrics/support drive upside to long‑term monetization. Zacks: The Zacks Analyst Alphabet…
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo deployment of next‑gen robotaxis signals commercial progress for Alphabet’s autonomous‑vehicle unit, a longer‑term growth catalyst. CNBC: Waymo begins deploying next‑gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Some large asset managers are net buying while others trimmed positions — BNP Paribas added a multi‑million share position in GOOG, offsetting other institutional reductions. QuiverQuant: BNP Paribas fund update
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest figures in recent feeds show zero shares (likely a data anomaly), so shorting activity is not a clear driver today.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet completed a very large multi‑currency debt offering (including long‑dated tranches/century bond reports), which has spooked some investors worried about aggressive debt‑funded CapEx and the lack of customary bond protections. Reuters: Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails…
• Negative Sentiment: Management guided 2026 CapEx sharply higher (~$175–$185B), and the market has treated that as a near‑term cash‑flow/headwind risk despite its AI rationale — this contributed to post‑earnings weakness. Zacks: Alphabet drops 7% post Q4 earnings
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust scrutiny has resurfaced: regulators are probing Google’s search‑ads auction/pricing practices in Europe, introducing regulatory risk for ad monetization. Reuters: Google targeted by EU over search advertising auction practices
• Negative Sentiment: Notable institutional trimming reported in 13F updates (e.g., Neuberger, Swiss National Bank saw reductions), which can pressure intraday liquidity/psychology even as other funds add exposure. QuiverQuant: Neuberger Berman fund update

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $306.02 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $276.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week 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.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.