Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Has $39.49 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,305 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 3.0% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $39,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delta Asset Management LLC TN grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 6,153 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,496,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Matisse Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 14,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the third quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,963 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,693,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avid Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.5% during the third quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $298.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $349.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $319.93 and its 200 day moving average is $286.87.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued 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 $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total value of $33,934.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,418 shares in the company, valued at $5,580,469.82. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial set a $385.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.18.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large cloud commercial win — CVS will deploy an AI‑enabled health platform on Google Cloud, validating enterprise demand for recurring cloud/AI revenue and supporting the Google Cloud/Gemini growth story. CVS taps Google Cloud
• Positive Sentiment: AI partnership continuity — Google said Anthropic will remain available for non‑defense projects after DoD actions, limiting disruption to Alphabet’s access to Anthropic models and enterprise AI offerings. Google says Anthropic remains available
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional support — Robert W. Baird lifted its price target to $380 and other firms have boosted targets/ratings recently, reinforcing buy narratives and upside vs. the current price. Baird raises price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Small insider sales — filings show modest sales by a director and the CAO; routine disclosures that markets note but are not large enough to signal strategic conviction changes. SEC filing — insider sales
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary on recent pullback — coverage (e.g., Zacks) highlights the stock’s slide since earnings and asks whether it can rebound, offering investor viewpoints but no new company fundamentals. Zacks — can it rebound?
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/PR overhang: a wrongful‑death lawsuit alleges harmful guidance from the Gemini chatbot, raising potential liability, regulatory scrutiny and reputational risk for Alphabet’s core AI investment thesis. Gemini wrongful‑death lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Autonomous‑vehicle scrutiny — the NHTSA/NHTSA‑led safety forum and ongoing probes into Waymo incidents increase regulatory risk and operational uncertainty for the self‑driving unit. NHTSA self‑driving safety forum
• Negative Sentiment: App store revenue pressure — a settlement with Epic lowered Play Store commission rates (to ~20% + up to 5%), which could modestly reduce Play‑ecosystem take rates and near‑term revenue. Play Store commission cut
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical pressure — recent tensions and tech pullbacks in affected markets (e.g., Dubai exposure) are weighing on large‑cap tech multiples, contributing to negative sentiment around GOOGL. Tech offices respond to U.S.-Iran tensions

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.