Farallon Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Farallon Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 36.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,120,940 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 640,900 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.1% of Farallon Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Farallon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $273,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.4% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 594,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $105,540,000 after acquiring an additional 41,132 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 174,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,911,000 after acquiring an additional 6,814 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 253,957 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,049,000 after acquiring an additional 47,603 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,076,615 shares of company stock valued at $107,809,111. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: GFiber is combining with Astound Broadband with Stonepeak as majority owner while Alphabet keeps a minority stake — this monetizes Google’s fiber asset, reduces future capex burden and leaves Alphabet with upside exposure to a larger independent broadband operator. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)’s Expanding Horizons: AI, Cloud, and Broadband Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini AI is being added to Google Maps via “Ask Maps,” increasing product differentiation and engagement across a high-traffic app — a direct example of AI driving user value and monetization opportunities. Google (GOOGL) Adds Its Gemini AI Model to Google Maps to Allow More Detailed Questions
• Positive Sentiment: Google completed the acquisition of Wiz (~$32B), strengthening cloud security offerings — a strategic tuck-in that can help win larger enterprise cloud deals and justify higher cloud multiple over time. Google Just Closed Its $32 Billion Wiz Deal. How Should You Play GOOGL Stock Here?
• Positive Sentiment: Google changed Android billing rules, cut developer fees and resolved the Epic/Fortnite dispute — removing a legal overhang and improving developer economics for Play Store, which supports long-term app revenue resilience. Google (GOOGL) App Store Brings Back Fortnite, Changes Fee Structure
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and analyst sentiment remain supportive — recent coverage highlights strong Q4 results, cash-rich balance sheet and a consensus “Buy” tilt with several elevated price targets. This underpins medium-term investor confidence. Alphabet Q4: A Fairly Valued Tech Titan To Buy Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Social and options flow show heightened bullish conviction around Gemini and cloud, but this is sentiment-driven and can amplify short-term volatility rather than change fundamentals. Alphabet Stock (GOOG) Opinions on Gemini AI Advancements
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent short-interest data in feeds appears noisy/invalid and does not signal a meaningful squeeze or covering dynamic at present.
• Negative Sentiment: U.K. regulator warnings on protecting children online increase the risk of tighter rules and compliance costs for big tech — a regulatory backdrop that could pressure valuations if enforcement or new rules accelerate. Big tech given warning – and deadline – by UK regulator

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $301.46 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $350.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $319.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.90.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued 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 (DPR) is 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, January 5th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Loop Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $345.71.

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.