Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Holocene Advisors LP

Holocene Advisors LP lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 83.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,276,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,645,556 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $310,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Brooktree Capital Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $352,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 13.9% during the third quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,277,000 after buying an additional 7,180 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 23.6% during the third quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,401,000 after buying an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the second quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Centerpoint Advisory Group raised its holdings in Alphabet by 21.0% in the second quarter. Centerpoint Advisory Group now owns 2,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $305.56 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $318.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $349.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.27, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 7.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price target for the company. Moffett Nathanson raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.18.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Market perception that Alphabet has shifted from being “hunted” to a “hunter” in the AI race — investors interpret this as improved competitive positioning for search, ads and cloud monetization, supporting near‑to‑midterm growth expectations. Alphabet (GOOG) gained from its shift in the AI race from being ‘hunted’ to being a ‘hunter’
• Positive Sentiment: Google closed its ~$32B acquisition of Wiz — strengthens cloud security capabilities and enterprise positioning, which should help diversify revenue and deepen enterprise cloud relationships over time. Wiz investor unpacks Google’s $32B acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Needham reiterated a Buy on GOOGL, which can buoy investor sentiment and act as a near‑term catalyst for buying interest. Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC
• Neutral Sentiment: Heavy retail/investor attention and trending stock coverage (Zacks) — increased searches can raise volatility and volume, but are not a direct signal of fundamentals. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data shows zero reported short shares and a 0.0 days‑to‑cover — likely a reporting anomaly; not meaningful evidence of decreased bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulatory risk: European publishers and tech firms are urging the EU to conclude a long antitrust probe and impose a fine on Google over alleged search favoritism — a faster or larger penalty could pressure revenue from search and create operational constraints. Exclusive: European publishers, tech firms urge EU to speed up fine on Google over search

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total value of $33,934.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,580,469.82. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s 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 owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,076,615 shares of company stock valued at $107,809,111. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.