Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Sanders Capital LLC

Sanders Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 33,666,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,691,237 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 10.1% of Sanders Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Sanders Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,199,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Searle & CO. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 5,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 5,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the third quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $766,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 7,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was 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. Insiders sold a total of 2,112,493 shares of company stock worth $118,605,094 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: GFiber is combining with Astound Broadband with Stonepeak as majority owner while Alphabet keeps a minority stake — this monetizes Google’s fiber asset, reduces future capex burden and leaves Alphabet with upside exposure to a larger independent broadband operator. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)’s Expanding Horizons: AI, Cloud, and Broadband Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini AI is being added to Google Maps via “Ask Maps,” increasing product differentiation and engagement across a high-traffic app — a direct example of AI driving user value and monetization opportunities. Google (GOOGL) Adds Its Gemini AI Model to Google Maps to Allow More Detailed Questions
• Positive Sentiment: Google completed the acquisition of Wiz (~$32B), strengthening cloud security offerings — a strategic tuck-in that can help win larger enterprise cloud deals and justify higher cloud multiple over time. Google Just Closed Its $32 Billion Wiz Deal. How Should You Play GOOGL Stock Here?
• Positive Sentiment: Google changed Android billing rules, cut developer fees and resolved the Epic/Fortnite dispute — removing a legal overhang and improving developer economics for Play Store, which supports long-term app revenue resilience. Google (GOOGL) App Store Brings Back Fortnite, Changes Fee Structure
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and analyst sentiment remain supportive — recent coverage highlights strong Q4 results, cash-rich balance sheet and a consensus “Buy” tilt with several elevated price targets. This underpins medium-term investor confidence. Alphabet Q4: A Fairly Valued Tech Titan To Buy Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Social and options flow show heightened bullish conviction around Gemini and cloud, but this is sentiment-driven and can amplify short-term volatility rather than change fundamentals. Alphabet Stock (GOOG) Opinions on Gemini AI Advancements
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent short-interest data in feeds appears noisy/invalid and does not signal a meaningful squeeze or covering dynamic at present.
• Negative Sentiment: U.K. regulator warnings on protecting children online increase the risk of tighter rules and compliance costs for big tech — a regulatory backdrop that could pressure valuations if enforcement or new rules accelerate. Big tech given warning – and deadline – by UK regulator

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Raymond James Financial raised Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. 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. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $345.71.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $301.46 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $350.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $319.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $3.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS 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 the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio 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.