Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Weitz Investment Management Inc.

Weitz Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 440,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 5.8% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $107,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $4,298,572,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after acquiring an additional 7,904,434 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 4,154,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 17,547.9% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,122,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $731,331,000 after purchasing an additional 4,099,366 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total value of $10,637,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,211,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,945,705.60. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock valued at $119,145,289. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller meaningfully increased his fund’s stake in Alphabet for a second straight quarter, signaling confidence from a prominent investor likely tied to Alphabet’s AI/cloud momentum. Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller Piled Into Alphabet and Amazon for a 2nd Consecutive Quarter and Dumped His Stake in Another “Magnificent Seven” Stock
• Positive Sentiment: South Korea approved Google’s request to export high‑precision map data, removing a long-standing barrier and opening a large market to Google Maps — a revenue and user-engagement positive for Search/Maps and local ad inventory. South Korea approves Google bid to export high-precision map data
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Meta signed a multibillion‑dollar deal to rent Google’s TPUs to train new AI models — a validation of Google’s chip/cloud economics and a potential recurring revenue stream for Google Cloud. Google signs multibillion-dollar AI chip deal with Meta, Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Nano Banana 2, a faster, more accurate AI image generator across Gemini and Search — another product upgrade that boosts user engagement and competitive positioning in generative AI. Google launches Nano Banana 2, updating its viral AI image generator
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo is expanding testing to Chicago and Charlotte as it scales robotaxi operations — positive optionality for Alphabet’s long‑term mobility business. Waymo to begin testing in Chicago and Charlotte
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet folded robotics software arm Intrinsic into Google — a consolidation that may streamline development but has limited immediate revenue impact. Former Alphabet ‘moonshot’ robotics company Intrinsic is folding into Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly upgraded Alphabet, adding a positive analyst voice that can support sentiment but may already be priced in given recent analyst activity. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company
• Negative Sentiment: More than 100 Google AI employees sent a letter opposing Gemini’s use for U.S. surveillance and some autonomous weapons, raising reputational/regulatory risk and potential internal constraints on certain AI deployments. Google Workers Seek ‘Red Lines’ on Military A.I., Echoing Anthropic
• Negative Sentiment: Report flags $662B of off‑balance‑sheet future data‑center lease obligations among hyperscalers, highlighting hidden infrastructure costs that could pressure margins as AI scale increases. Hidden AI Costs? Big Tech Hyperscalers Hold $662 Billion In Off-Balance-Sheet Data Center Leases: Report
• Negative Sentiment: Hedge fund MIG Capital trimmed its Class C stake, a small signal of profit‑taking or portfolio rebalancing that slightly offsets bullish flows. MIG Capital Cuts Alphabet Inc. Class C Stake

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Raymond James Financial raised Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho set a $325.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $307.15 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $350.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $321.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $282.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.10. 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 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 return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.