Erste Asset Management GmbH Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Erste Asset Management GmbH cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 448,198 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 154,301 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.1% of Erste Asset Management GmbH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $109,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% in the third 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 last quarter. Searle & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd 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 period. 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 valued at $1,424,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 7,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 2,112,380 shares of company stock worth $119,112,888 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $311.43 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $321.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $283.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.10. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $350.15.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $343.90.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google rolled out Nano Banana 2, an upgraded AI image generator with faster performance and better text handling — reinforces product leadership for Gemini/search integrations and helps drive user engagement across Google services. Google launches Nano Banana 2
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reportedly struck a multibillion-dollar deal to rent its AI chips (TPUs) to Meta — a direct revenue and margin-positive outcome from Alphabet’s AI infrastructure investments. Google signs multibillion-dollar AI chip deal with Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is securing power supply agreements for data centers (deals with AES and Xcel), which reduces execution risk for its AI/cloud buildout and supports continued capacity expansion. Alphabet Secures Power Deals
• Positive Sentiment: South Korea approved Google’s request to export high‑precision map data, opening commercial opportunities for Google Maps and Waymo in a market previously restricted — potential revenue and product expansion tailwind. South Korea approves Google bid
• Positive Sentiment: Heavy investors continue to add to Alphabet: notable buying by billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller was reported — an endorsement that can support sentiment among long-term institutional investors. Druckenmiller buys Alphabet
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage and buy ratings remain favorable (recent upgrades and positive notes on cloud/AI), supporting longer-term upside expectations even after concerns about spending. MarketBeat coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest updates in available feeds show anomalous/zero reporting and NaN changes — appears to be noisy data and unlikely to be driving today’s move. (Data entries flagged as 0/NaN.)
• Negative Sentiment: Belgian competition authorities opened a probe into Google’s online ad pricing practices — a regulatory risk that could pressure ad margins or lead to fines/operational changes in Europe. Belgian watchdog probe
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure intensified after OpenAI raised massive funding with Amazon/Nvidia/Microsoft as backers — concentrates AI competition and could blunt parts of Google’s enterprise opportunity or pricing power. OpenAI record funding report
• Negative Sentiment: Investor cautions: critics (Michael Burry, some options trade services) have flagged Alphabet’s aggressive AI capex and warned of margin pressure — a reminder of downside risk if spending outpaces near-term monetization. Michael Burry on Google’s AI spending

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.