Carnegie Investment Counsel Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Carnegie Investment Counsel lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 243,404 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,778 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $59,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 400.0% in the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $314.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. 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 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $328.67. The company’s fifty day moving average is $298.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.31.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares in the company, valued at $592,760,192.85. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total value of $800,786.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,739 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,884.14. This represents a 19.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 195,363 shares of company stock valued at $57,024,525. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Raymond James Financial set a $275.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $300.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $313.04.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3/Q4 earnings and company results flagged resiliency and upside vs. expectations — analysts point to strong ad and cloud performance that underpin near‑term earnings. Alphabet (GOOG) Reported Strong Results Despite AI Disruption
• Positive Sentiment: Google Gemini adoption is surging (massive YoY growth and market‑share gains vs. ChatGPT), a direct revenue/engagement tailwind for Search, YouTube and Cloud monetization. Google Gemini & YouTube: GOOGL Digital Fortresses to Fend Off ChatGPT
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud momentum and AI infrastructure (including custom chips) are driving >30% cloud growth and improving unit economics versus peers — supports longer‑term margin expansion. Ranking the Best “Magnificent Seven” Stocks to Buy for 2026. Here’s My No.
• Positive Sentiment: Street sentiment is warming: heavy analyst upgrades and bullish price targets (MarketBeat/TipRanks highlight double‑digit upside and a consensus lift in coverage). The 5 Most Upgraded Stocks from 2025: Double-Digit Upside in 2026 (Alphabet coverage)
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate development win — SandboxAQ (Alphabet spin‑off) landed a major Bahrain cyber contract, showing diversification into government/security revenue streams. Alphabet (GOOGL) Spin Off SandboxAQ Wins Major Government Cyber Deal in Bahrain
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary notes Alphabet’s re‑rating into an AI growth multiple — supports higher targets but raises valuation sensitivity to AI execution and capex. Alphabet Isn’t a Search and Ad Company Anymore. Now It’s Valued Like an AI Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk: reports indicate a DOJ probe tied to company DEI policies — an added political/regulatory overhang that could amplify volatility or lead to enforcement headlines. Trump’s Justice Department probes Google, Verizon over DEI policies, citing fraud law: report

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.