Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Weitz Investment Management Inc.

Weitz Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 440,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 5.8% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $107,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 145.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 196 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 100.0% in the second quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller meaningfully increased his fund’s stake in Alphabet for a second straight quarter, signaling confidence from a prominent investor likely tied to Alphabet’s AI/cloud momentum. Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller Piled Into Alphabet and Amazon for a 2nd Consecutive Quarter and Dumped His Stake in Another “Magnificent Seven” Stock
• Positive Sentiment: South Korea approved Google’s request to export high‑precision map data, removing a long-standing barrier and opening a large market to Google Maps — a revenue and user-engagement positive for Search/Maps and local ad inventory. South Korea approves Google bid to export high-precision map data
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Meta signed a multibillion‑dollar deal to rent Google’s TPUs to train new AI models — a validation of Google’s chip/cloud economics and a potential recurring revenue stream for Google Cloud. Google signs multibillion-dollar AI chip deal with Meta, Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Nano Banana 2, a faster, more accurate AI image generator across Gemini and Search — another product upgrade that boosts user engagement and competitive positioning in generative AI. Google launches Nano Banana 2, updating its viral AI image generator
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo is expanding testing to Chicago and Charlotte as it scales robotaxi operations — positive optionality for Alphabet’s long‑term mobility business. Waymo to begin testing in Chicago and Charlotte
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet folded robotics software arm Intrinsic into Google — a consolidation that may streamline development but has limited immediate revenue impact. Former Alphabet ‘moonshot’ robotics company Intrinsic is folding into Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly upgraded Alphabet, adding a positive analyst voice that can support sentiment but may already be priced in given recent analyst activity. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company
• Negative Sentiment: More than 100 Google AI employees sent a letter opposing Gemini’s use for U.S. surveillance and some autonomous weapons, raising reputational/regulatory risk and potential internal constraints on certain AI deployments. Google Workers Seek ‘Red Lines’ on Military A.I., Echoing Anthropic
• Negative Sentiment: Report flags $662B of off‑balance‑sheet future data‑center lease obligations among hyperscalers, highlighting hidden infrastructure costs that could pressure margins as AI scale increases. Hidden AI Costs? Big Tech Hyperscalers Hold $662 Billion In Off-Balance-Sheet Data Center Leases: Report
• Negative Sentiment: Hedge fund MIG Capital trimmed its Class C stake, a small signal of profit‑taking or portfolio rebalancing that slightly offsets bullish flows. MIG Capital Cuts Alphabet Inc. Class C Stake

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider 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 2,112,482 shares of company stock worth $119,145,289 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Bank of America raised their price objective on Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.90.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.9%

Alphabet stock opened at $307.15 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $350.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $321.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $282.05. 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 capitalization of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for 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 for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

About Alphabet

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.