Howard Capital Management Group LLC Sells 2,167 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Howard Capital Management Group LLC lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,648 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,167 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.1% of Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avaii Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 1,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Pivotal Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $345.71.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.6%

GOOG opened at $314.74 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.81 and a twelve month high of $350.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $307.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.03. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 2,069,344 shares of company stock valued at $104,708,426 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Long-term TPU and networking deals deepen Alphabet’s hardware advantage and reduce AI cost exposure, supporting Google Cloud margins and enterprise wins. Broadcom and Google seal five-year AI chip partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo’s expansion to Nashville signals commercial progress for autonomous ride‑hailing, turning an “Other Bets” narrative into potential revenue growth. Alphabet Climbs 4% on Waymo’s Nashville Expansion: The Self-Driving Bet Is Starting to Pay Off
• Positive Sentiment: Google Finance’s AI overhaul and real‑time insights broaden product monetization and user engagement — a near‑term product catalyst that supports ad and subscription upside. Google Finance Gets AI Overhaul – Rolls Out Real-Time Insights To 100+ Countries
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud remains the fastest‑growing major cloud platform with a surging cloud backlog and AI-native offerings (Vertex/Gemini + TPUs), improving revenue visibility and margin trajectory. Google Cloud Is the World’s Fastest-Growing Major Cloud Platform
• Positive Sentiment: Wing and DoorDash drone expansion into Atlanta adds another commercialization channel for logistics and local revenue opportunities. Alphabet’s Wing Drone Unit, DoorDash Expand Into Atlanta. Google Stock Turns Green In 2026.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad market tailwinds — including a temporary geopolitical ceasefire — lifted tech stocks broadly, amplifying Alphabet’s gains alongside stock‑specific news. Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Nvidia lead tech rally after Trump announces ceasefire with Iran
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitors (Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI) continue product launches; heightened competition could pressure share if monetization or market share shifts. Meta debuts new AI model, attempting to catch Google, OpenAI after spending billions
• Negative Sentiment: Some institutional selling has occurred (TCW sold shares), and environmental/community pushback on large data‑center projects raises operational/permit risk for capacity expansion. TCW Relative Value Large Cap Fund Sold Alphabet Inc (GOOG) After Meeting Valuation Characteristics While Amazon, Microsoft, Google Struggle With AI On Land — China Looks To The Sea

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.