Westwind Capital Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Westwind Capital lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 118,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,834 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 7.6% of Westwind Capital’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Westwind Capital’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $37,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,298,572,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% during the third 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 73.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,808,152 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,388,775,000 after buying an additional 4,154,929 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 330.4% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,989,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $707,691,000 after buying an additional 3,062,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $678,198,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 target price (up from $355.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $345.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock valued at $118,134,117 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Top analyst price targets and upgrades: Needham set a $400 target for GOOGL and the stock has seen dozens of upgrades and above‑consensus targets recently, supporting a view that the long‑term upside from AI and cloud adoption remains intact. New Analyst Forecast: $GOOGL Given $400 Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: AI/search and cloud traction — analysts note Gemini upgrades and rising engagement in AI‑powered Search plus large Google Cloud backlog, which underpin revenue growth and analyst EPS upgrades. This is a key bullish fundamental for investors focused on earnings durability. Alphabet Relies on AI to Boost Search Growth: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Product/technology wins: DeepMind and Waymo milestones (robotics partnership, autonomous‑miles progress) show Alphabet expanding AI monetization avenues beyond ads — supportive for longer‑term revenue diversification. Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock Rises as DeepMind Secures Major Robotics Deal with Agile Robots
• Neutral Sentiment: AI memory/compression research: Google published techniques that could dramatically cut memory needs for large models — bullish for Alphabet’s AI cost structure but disruptive to memory chip suppliers; markets are parsing net effects. A Google AI breakthrough is pressuring memory chip stocks from Samsung to Micron
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate structure and ticker nuance: Ongoing reminders that GOOG vs GOOGL share classes differ can influence investor flows and option activity for those trading specific tickers. Useful context but not an immediate earnings driver. GOOG vs. GOOGL: Why 2 Classes of Alphabet Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Landmark legal risk: A Los Angeles jury found YouTube (Alphabet) liable in a social‑media addiction case — a bellwether verdict that raises litigation/regulatory risk and headline pressure across big‑tech stocks. That verdict is the primary near‑term catalyst weighing on the shares. US jury verdicts against Meta, Google tee up fight over tech liability shield
• Negative Sentiment: Policy risk: A proposed congressional moratorium on new AI data center construction would directly affect Alphabet’s capital plans and cloud expansion if passed — a meaningful regulatory overhang for AI infrastructure investors to watch. Sanders and AOC Introduce Bill to Halt New AI Data Center Construction Nationwide
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider and institutional selling: Recent data show heavy insider sales and big institutional reductions (e.g., UBS, Norges Bank) even as others add positions — that mix increases near‑term supply pressure and headline risk. New Analyst Forecast: $GOOGL Given $400 Price Target (includes insider & institutional activity)

Alphabet Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $280.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $314.06 and a 200 day moving average of $294.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.