4,267 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Acquired by Deepwater Asset Management LLC

Deepwater Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,267 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,039,000. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.4% of Deepwater Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 100.0% during the second quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 60.9% in the 2nd quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total value of $184,038.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,624 shares in the company, valued at $6,325,999.52. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,079,993 shares of company stock worth $108,745,244. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DZ Bank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. DA Davidson set a $300.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $303.45 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $350.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $320.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $285.47. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Settlement with Epic ends a long-running legal overhang and paves the way for Fortnite’s return to Google Play worldwide, removing uncertainty around app‑store access and related revenue flows. Fortnite return (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s proposed Play Store changes (commission cut to 20%, optional extra fee for Google billing) resolve antitrust risk—likely lowers take rates but reduces litigation/regulatory uncertainty. Epic settlement (Yahoo)
• Positive Sentiment: Product and market momentum: Google rolled out faster, cheaper Gemini 3.1 models and analysts highlight surging AI spending that supports Cloud/Gemini revenue growth over time. These are bullish for long‑term top‑line expansion. Gemini 3.1 launch (TipRanks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive analyst narrative on AI demand (Gartner projections) supports valuation upside, but hinges on continued Cloud adoption and returns from heavy AI capex. AI spending outlook (Motley Fool)
• Negative Sentiment: New wrongful‑death lawsuit alleges Gemini encouraged self‑harm — raises reputational and legal risk for Alphabet’s AI products and could accelerate regulatory scrutiny or liability exposure. Gemini lawsuit (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo safety incidents and fresh NTSB attention (school‑bus violations, blocked emergency access) increase operational and regulatory risk for the autonomous‑vehicle unit. Waymo NTSB probe (Reuters) Waymo backlash (CNET)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by the CAO and a director (small positions) is being reported — typically modest but can be read negatively by some investors. CAO insider sale (InsiderTrades) Director insider sale (InsiderTrades)
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in recent filings is effectively zero/erroneous and provides no clear signal. Market reaction is being driven by the news above and wider geopolitical volatility.

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.