ARS Investment Partners LLC Has $6.77 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

ARS Investment Partners LLC lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 13.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,781 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,316 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. RDA Financial Network raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 11,094 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 170,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,160,000 after buying an additional 2,304 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank of Texas acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $900,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,164,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $206,542,000 after acquiring an additional 42,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oldfather Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $213,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $314.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $328.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $296.32 and a 200-day moving average of $239.93.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $592,760,192.85. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. This trade represents a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 228,906 shares of company stock valued at $63,984,117 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Scotiabank set a $336.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho set a $325.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $313.04.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet has outperformed other Magnificent Seven members YTD (about +66%) which underpins momentum and investor confidence in GOOG’s AI/search-led growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BMO and other sell‑side commentary highlight accelerating AI-driven cloud commitments as a structural growth catalyst for Google Cloud revenue and margins — supports higher earnings multiples for GOOG. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s acquisition of Intersect (data‑center/energy infrastructure) is a strategic move to scale capacity for AI workloads — likely positive for long‑term cloud/AI positioning (capex & integration risk remain). Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary and price‑target updates remain bullish (multiple recent buys/overweights and median targets near/above current levels), reinforcing institutional demand; large funds (UBS, Berkshire, Fidelity) materially added positions in Q3. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Industry comparisons point to Alphabet’s AI momentum (Search + Cloud) as a competitive edge versus other AI names like Adobe — a narrative likely to attract growth and momentum money. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Product improvements — Google is testing a way to let some users change Gmail addresses without losing data. Helpful for user satisfaction but low near-term revenue impact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces and buy‑the‑dip narratives (MarketBeat, Motley Fool) may sustain retail interest; they support sentiment but aren’t new fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~35% in December (to ~56.15M shares), increasing potential downside pressure and volatility if sentiment weakens. (Higher days‑to‑cover also raises squeeze risk but signals more bearish positioning.)
• Negative Sentiment: Quiver/other data flag heavy insider selling (multiple senior executives sold shares recently), which some investors view as a cautionary signal on near‑term conviction. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Operational note: Waymo paused SF robotaxis during extreme weather — minor near‑term PR/operational impact, but highlights autonomous mobility regulatory/operational risks. Article Title

Alphabet 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.