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

Nicollet Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,031 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,640 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 5.6% of Nicollet Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Nicollet Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,927,821,000 after buying an additional 5,182,111 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,511,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428,266 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,022,926,000 after acquiring an additional 441,177 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after acquiring an additional 7,904,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 35,357,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,272,146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117,990 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and deep-dive bullish takes argue AI-driven capex will widen Alphabet’s competitive moat — Q4 strength (18% revenue growth, 48% Cloud) supports faster recurring revenue and margin expansion, underpinning multi-hundred-dollar price targets. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo moved to a more constructive rating (upgrade/Overweight), part of a cluster of bullish analyst notes and raised price targets (median ~ $370), supporting upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Deep strategic assets and partnerships (14% stake in Anthropic, early SpaceX stake, Gemini distribution across devices) are being highlighted as underappreciated value drivers that reinforce long-term upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Operationally supportive energy and data‑center deals: Google announced a 1.9GW clean-power backing (including a 100‑hour battery) and utilities (Xcel, AES) signed supply agreements for new data centers — reduces energy risk for large AI builds. Read More. and Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry context: Bridgewater estimates Big Tech will invest roughly $650B in AI this year — validates the sector capex trend that benefits hyperscalers but doesn’t single out winners. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Intensifying AI‑chip competition and trade‑secret tensions (Google vs. Nvidia, new entrants raising capital) could pressure costs and supplier dynamics — a nearer-term risk to margins and model-training economics. Read More. and Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concerns about the pace of AI capex hitting free cash flow and accounting scrutiny — social/analyst chatter and high-profile skepticism (Michael Burry) raise questions about FCF, depreciation, and reported margins. Read More. and Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling activity (including CEO filings) is being noted by market participants and can sap near‑term sentiment despite institutional bullishness. Read More.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $310.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $321.06 and a 200-day moving average of $281.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total transaction of $184,038.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,325,999.52. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock valued at $119,145,289 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. Mizuho set a $325.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial raised Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $343.90.

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.