JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Lowers Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,079,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 135,765 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.4% of JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $262,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,546,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $448,684,000 after purchasing an additional 56,295 shares during the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 9.3% during the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after buying an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. Brooktree Capital Management bought a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $352,000. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,277,000 after acquiring an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “positive” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $268.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet to $315.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $333.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.77.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $331.86 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $307.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.98. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $334.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.73, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 224,587 shares of company stock valued at $66,549,284. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple announced a multi‑year deal to base its next generation of Apple Foundation Models (including a revamped Siri) on Google’s Gemini models and cloud — a large, visible commercial win for Alphabet’s AI platform that expands Gemini’s reach into iPhone ecosystems and could drive cloud and model-revenue upside. Google and Apple enter into multi-year AI deal for Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction to Alphabet’s AI progress and commercial wins lifted the stock to a record and pushed the company’s market capitalization above $4 trillion — a signaling event that amplifies institutional interest and momentum chasing. Alphabet Becomes Newest $4 Trillion Company, Joining Nvidia and Apple
• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding Gemini’s commercial footprint in retail (Walmart, Shopify, Wayfair partnerships, Universal Commerce Protocol), which supports growth of agent‑led commerce and monetization opportunities for Gemini and Google Cloud. These deals reinforce the narrative of Gemini as a platform with multiple monetization paths. Google bolsters bet on AI-powered commerce with new platform for shopping agents
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data for January shows effectively zero days of short interest in the recent snapshot — the entry is noisy and adds little immediate informational value for price direction. Investors should treat this as non‑consequential until clearer short‑interest reporting emerges. Market data snapshot
• Negative Sentiment: High‑profile criticism from rivals can add headline volatility: Elon Musk publicly called the Apple‑Google deal an “unreasonable concentration of power,” which may draw regulatory scrutiny or negative sentiment among some investors — though such comments don’t change the underlying commercial implications immediately. Elon Musk Slams Google, Apple Deal: ‘Unreasonable Concentration Of Power’

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.