Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 398,030 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 91,806 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.0% of Gradient Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $124,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 145.0% during the third quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 196 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 56.8% during the third quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 218 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind expands robotics AI work—Alphabet’s DeepMind will integrate Gemini Robotics foundation models with Agile Robots’ hardware, advancing robotics capabilities and supporting long‑term AI monetization and product leadership. Google partners with Agile Robots, growing its AI robotics footprint
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini commerce rollout—Gap will enable checkout inside Google’s Gemini, a sign that Alphabet is starting to capture direct commerce revenue and broaden Gemini’s commercial use cases. That supports the AI monetization narrative. Gap becomes the first major fashion company to offer checkout within Google’s Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism remains—Wall Street price targets and buy ratings stay elevated (median targets well above the current price), which provides upside support over a multi‑month horizon. Alphabet Stock (GOOG) Opinions on Earnings Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Google Cloud business wins and partnerships—BMO/CME plan tokenized cash on Google Cloud and other enterprise collaborations continue to validate cloud demand, but revenue timing and margins will matter. BMO to launch tokenized cash platform with CME and Google Cloud
• Neutral Sentiment: New operational initiatives—Wing’s planned drone deliveries in the SF Bay Area and other hardware efforts show progress but will require continued capital and regulatory approvals. Alphabet’s Wing to start drone delivery in San Francisco Bay Area
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational constraints flagged—Alphabet executives warned the U.S. may need more power development to scale AI data centers, highlighting capex and infrastructure dependency. CERAWEEK US needs more energy development to power AI, Google president says
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reporting appears noisy—several data sources show large short‑interest changes but the published figures (0 shares) are likely reporting errors; treat short‑interest signals with caution.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory scrutiny—EU antitrust officials are meeting with Alphabet’s CEO amid growing scrutiny of Big Tech’s AI power, a near‑term headwind that can increase uncertainty and re‑rate multiples. EU antitrust chief meets Google, Meta, OpenAI, Amazon CEOs amidst AI scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Technical weakness—traders are pointing to a head‑and‑shoulders breakdown and failing support levels, which can amplify selling in the short term as algorithmic and momentum funds react. Alphabet Stock (GOOGL) Opinions on Technical Breakdown and AI Developments
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling—public data shows significant insider sales by executives over recent months, which can be interpreted negatively by some investors even if sales are for diversification or compensation reasons. Alphabet Stock (GOOG) Opinions on Earnings Release

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $289.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $350.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $316.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. DA Davidson set a $300.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $345.71.

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.