New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 89,794 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,914,926 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 89,794 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.9% of New York State Teachers Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $953,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 370 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Higgins & Schmidt Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the third quarter. Higgins & Schmidt Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,813 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritas Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Meritas Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $320.31.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total transaction of $10,383,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,272,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $725,942,020.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 192,687 shares of company stock valued at $58,728,068 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major commercial validation — Apple’s decision to use Google’s Gemini to power the next-generation Siri is being treated as a high-margin licensing win and a distribution multiplier for Gemini; MarketBeat highlights this deal as a key catalyst behind Alphabet clearing a $4 trillion market cap. Alphabet Tops $4 Trillion Valuation as AI Momentum Runs HotMarketBeat: Alphabet Tops $4 Trillion Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum — DeepMind and Google product teams are working closely (DeepMind CEO says daily dialogue with Google CEO) as Gemini and other AI features (e.g., Personal Intelligence) accelerate integration across Google apps — supports revenue/monetization pathways. DeepMind CEO is talking to Google CEO ‘every day’ as lab ramps up competition with OpenAICNBC: DeepMind/Google collaboration
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and market momentum — Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets (Goldman, BofA, Wells Fargo, Cantor, Jefferies) plus bullish media commentary (including Jim Cramer) are supporting investor sentiment and inflows. Is Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) The Most Profitable US Stock to Buy?InsiderMonkey: analyst coverage & targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Commercial pilots & partnerships — Google will power agentic AI for Woolworths’ Olive chatbot in Australia later this year, a useful commercial test but limited near-term revenue impact. Do Woolworths shoppers want Google AI adding items to buy? We’ll soon find outTechXplore: Woolworths pilot
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector tailwinds — Large forecasts for AI spending boost the long-term thesis for hyperscalers, but they also imply higher capex and competitive intensity across cloud and GPU suppliers. NVDA, GOOGL, META: AI Spending Forecast to Hit $2.53 Trillion This YearTipRanks: AI spending forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk — Google asked a U.S. judge to pause an order forcing it to share data with rivals while it appeals an antitrust ruling; litigation outcomes could materially affect search economics and competitive positioning. Google asks US judge to defer order forcing it to share data while it appealsReuters: appeal to defer data-sharing order
• Negative Sentiment: AI training litigation — Major publishers are seeking to join a class-action suit alleging Google used copyrighted works to train AI models; potential damages, injunctions or limits on training data could raise costs and slow model development. Publishers seek to join lawsuit against Google over AI trainingReuters: publishers move to join lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling & operational constraints — Reports show heavy insider sales (including large Sundar Pichai stock disposals) and Alphabet warns U.S. electrical transmission bottlenecks are slowing data‑centre hookups, which could constrain capacity growth for cloud/AI workloads. Insider selling and lobbying disclosureQuiverQuant: insider sales / lobbying • Google says US transmission system is biggest challenge for connecting data centersReuters: data-center transmission constraints

Alphabet Stock Down 0.8%

GOOG stock opened at $330.34 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $341.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company’s 50 day moving average is $312.04 and its 200 day moving average is $255.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $2.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

About Alphabet

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.