Cerity Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,245,951 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 37,717 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.3% of Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $790,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% in the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 58.7% in the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 121.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Raymond James Financial set a $275.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $318.18.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $332.73 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 firm has a market cap of $4.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $307.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.71. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $334.44.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced 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 company had revenue of $102.35 billion during 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%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total value of $31,971.90. Following the sale, the director owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at $5,706,357.25. The trade was a 0.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 227,365 shares of company stock valued at $67,350,070 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple chooses Google’s Gemini to power the next generation of Siri and Apple Foundation Models — a multi‑year licensing/cloud deal that validates Gemini at scale and gives Alphabet a high‑margin, recurring revenue channel and access to Apple’s huge device base. Google and Apple enter into multi-year AI deal for Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: AI optimism pushed Alphabet into the ~$4 trillion market‑cap club — headlines and analyst commentary frame Google as a potential long‑term AI winner (Gemini, Cloud, TPUs), which fuels momentum buying and multiple expansion. Alphabet hits $4 trillion valuation as AI refocus lifts sentiment
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies and other sell‑side notes highlight Alphabet’s data moat and Cloud/AI growth as durable upside drivers — supportive research helps underpin longer‑term buy interest despite a rich near‑term multiple. Jefferies Sees Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Data Moat and Cloud Growth Driving Long-Term Upside
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts are tempering enthusiasm by lowering conviction or trimming ratings (e.g., downgrades from “Strong Buy” to “Buy”) citing stretched forward multiples — this signals limited near‑term upside even as fundamentals stay strong. Alphabet: Reviewing My 2025 Top Pick, Downgrade To Buy On Less Attractive Setup
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional portfolio moves show some trimming of GOOGL positions in recent 13F updates (e.g., Davenport & Co and E. Ohman filings flagged reductions), which could modestly weigh supply/demand dynamics if continued. Fund Update: DAVENPORT & Co LLC Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider selling activity (including CEO sales disclosed in filings) is being tracked by markets and can add short‑term selling pressure or concern about timing of stock sales. Alphabet (GOOGL) Delivered Solid Performance in the Quarter
• Negative Sentiment: High‑profile criticism (Elon Musk calling the deal an “unreasonable concentration of power”) creates headline risk and could attract regulatory scrutiny or political attention over big‑tech partnerships — a reputational/regulatory risk to monitor. Elon Musk Slams Google, Apple Deal: ‘Unreasonable Concentration Of Power’

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.