Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218,252 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,074 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 4.0% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $53,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the second 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 last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,511,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428,266 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,022,926,000 after purchasing an additional 441,177 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the second quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 35,357,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,272,146,000 after buying an additional 2,117,990 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,818,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $856,605,814.08. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,325,999.52. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock valued at $119,145,289. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $343.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $313.03 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $321.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.87. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $350.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. 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 analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded Alphabet, a near-term buy-side catalyst that can boost sentiment and trading demand. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlights underappreciated assets (14% stake in Anthropic, early SpaceX stake, global device reach) that add upside optionality beyond Search/Cloud — a narrative that supports a higher multiple if Anthropic or SpaceX value inflection occurs. Alphabet’s Quiet Edge: The Hidden Assets Powering Its Run
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is consolidating robotics software unit Intrinsic into Google, trimming Other Bets complexity and accelerating product integration — likely cost/efficiency positive for margins and faster commercialization of physical AI. Former Alphabet ‘moonshot’ robotics company Intrinsic is folding into Google
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanding testing to Chicago and Charlotte signals continued path to commercialization for robotaxis — a potential long-term revenue stream and optional upside. Waymo to begin testing in Chicago and Charlotte
• Positive Sentiment: Device wins: Samsung’s S26 showcases deeper Gemini integration (third‑party app control), extending distribution for Google’s AI — supportive for product monetization and data network effects. Samsung’s S26 gives an advance look at what the Google-powered Apple Siri could do
• Neutral Sentiment: Google plans to test changes to search layout in Europe to give rivals more prominence as a way to avoid a major EU fine — this shows proactive mitigation but underscores ongoing regulatory risk that could affect Search economics. Exclusive: Google to test changes to search results, source says as EU fine looms
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports of a big increase in short-interest contain obvious data errors (0 shares / NaN) — treat as noise until corrected; not a reliable immediate signal. (data entry)
• Negative Sentiment: MIG Capital trimmed its Alphabet Class C stake—hedge‑fund selling can pressure price in the short term and prompt headline-driven flows. MIG Capital Cuts Alphabet Inc. Class C Stake
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage noted insider selling tied to the broader “Magnificent Seven” net selling trend and a small reported stock dip — insider/ownership shifts can sap momentum and weigh on sentiment near-term. The “Magnificent Seven” Are Sending Shockwaves Through Wall Street With This $8.4 Billion Warning
• Negative Sentiment: A minor Russian court fine over VPN distribution and continued EU scrutiny are reminders that regulatory/legal costs and reputational risk remain a recurring headwind. Russia fines Google for distributing VPN services, TASS reports

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.