West Financial Advisors LLC Has $213,000 Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

West Financial Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 73.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 680 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,921 shares during the quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $416,217,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,277,000 after acquiring an additional 7,180 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $5,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,241 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.7% during the second quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 1,457,732 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,896,000 after acquiring an additional 65,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 21.2% during the third quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,171,000 after purchasing an additional 8,746 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Veo 3.1 Lite, a lower‑cost video AI model that offers the same speed as Veo 3.1 Fast at under half the cost — a move aimed at expanding developer adoption and driving greater usage of Google’s AI platform. Google Unveils Cheaper AI Video Model to Expand Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reiterated a Buy on GOOGL with a $400 price target, reinforcing bullish analyst sentiment and suggesting material upside vs. current levels. Needham Reiterates Buy on Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) With $400 Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Shares jumped after reports that President Trump signaled willingness to end the Iran conflict — a macro/geopolitical development that reduced risk premium for ad‑heavy, global tech names like Alphabet. Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock Trades Up, Here Is Why
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage highlights Alphabet as a core AI/cloud compounder — Google Cloud’s strong growth and a rising cloud backlog underpin durable revenue visibility for investors seeking AI exposure. 5 Cloud and AI Infrastructure Stocks Powering the Next Wave of AI (GOOGL)
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet issued ultra‑long dated debt (100‑year paper), signaling opportunistic financing in a low‑rate environment — expands capital flexibility but worth monitoring for long‑term cash management implications. Alphabet Taps Debt Markets With 100-Year Issuance
• Neutral Sentiment: Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller added GOOGL to his filings, a notable institutional vote of confidence but one of many portfolio moves to interpret. Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller Piled Into 2 of the Hottest AI Stocks for a Second Consecutive Quarter (No, Not Nvidia or Palantir)
• Negative Sentiment: Indonesia summoned Google over non‑compliance with new child social media curbs — a regulatory flag that could lead to fines, product changes or restricted services in a large market. Indonesia summons Meta and Google over non-compliance with child social media curbs, minister says
• Negative Sentiment: Publisher Future PLC warned search changes tied to Google are compressing higher‑margin ad revenues — an example of how product/search tweaks can ripple through partners and potentially pressure ad revenue mixes. Future shares flop on profit warning as Google search changes hit ad revenues
• Negative Sentiment: A Gmail update / crypto wallet story highlights friction between Google product changes and crypto wallet usability — a niche but persistent user/partner headache in web3 integrations. New Gmail update highlights major crypto wallet struggle

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wedbush increased their price objective on Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.06.

Alphabet Stock Up 5.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $287.56 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $349.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The business’s 50-day moving average is $311.25 and its 200-day moving average is $295.96. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its 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 return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,092,234 shares of company stock worth $112,487,971 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Alphabet

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.