Carderock Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Carderock Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 51,932 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,703 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 3.1% of Carderock Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Carderock Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the third quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 9,733 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,366,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors grew its position in Alphabet by 1.6% during the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 28,456 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,918,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. FFG Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 42,212 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,262,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 556,193 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $135,210,000 after acquiring an additional 57,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $375,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $316.54 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.22, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $328.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $302.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus raised its price target on Alphabet to $365 and maintained a “buy” rating, citing stronger upside vs. prior guidance — a direct analyst catalyst that can attract additional buying and support the stock’s valuation recovery. Argus adjusts price target on Alphabet to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Samsung plans to double the number of mobile devices running Google’s Gemini to ~800 million units this year — a major distribution and adoption boost for Alphabet’s AI stack that can increase usage of cloud/AI services, strengthen Gemini’s ecosystem, and create monetization opportunities. Samsung to double devices powered by Google’s Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlights Alphabet as a top upgraded stock heading into 2026, noting dozens of analyst bullish revisions, a sharp rise in consensus price targets, and $140B of institutional inflows — all signaling sustained buy-side conviction and potential for further multiple expansion. Alphabet leader in upgraded stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Retail sentiment also favors Alphabet (ranked among top retail picks), reflecting alignment between Main Street and Wall Street — retail interest can amplify momentum and trading volume, particularly around AI narratives and product launches. 5 Stocks Retail Investors Are Betting on for 2026
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile endorsements and narratives (e.g., coverage noting Berkshire Hathaway’s regret at not owning Google) reinforce Alphabet’s long-term quality perception, supporting demand from buy-and-hold investors. Berkshire on missing Google
• Negative Sentiment: Indonesian prosecutors filed graft charges related to laptop procurement involving a former minister; while this implicates local procurement and public-sector processes rather than Alphabet directly, it could create short-term headline risk and localized reputational/legal scrutiny. Ex-Indonesian minister faces graft charges over Google laptop procurement

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total transaction of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,687 shares of company stock worth $56,255,711. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $333.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho set a $325.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $365.00 price target (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.12.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.