Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 68,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,418 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.0% of Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 400.0% during the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $300.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.13.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major analyst upgrade and higher price targets highlight AI-driven upside — Raymond James raised GOOG to “Strong Buy” and boosted its price target (street chatter also shows multiple firms lifting targets), supporting investor confidence in Alphabet’s AI strategy and Google Cloud momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Big investors adding shares — Baillie Gifford disclosed adding ~1.19M GOOGL shares in the latest 13F filing, a sign of continued institutional accumulation that can underpin price support. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Strong AI ecosystem wins — Apple reportedly will use Google’s Gemini to power the next Siri, expanding Gemini’s distribution and reinforcing Alphabet’s AI moat and monetization pathways. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage remains focused on AI and technicals — Several outlets and analysts are publishing bullish previews and technical trading ideas (including MarketBeat, Zacks, TipRanks), which keeps interest high but doesn’t guarantee near-term moves. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo expansion vs. scrutiny — Waymo launched robotaxis in Miami (expansion signal), which can drive future growth for Alphabet’s autonomy segment but also raises operational/legal exposure as deployment scales. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: NTSB opens probe into Waymo after robotaxis passed stopped school buses — A federal safety investigation into repeated illegal passes in Austin (reported incidents across states) creates regulatory and reputational risk for Waymo and, by extension, Alphabet. That headline is the clearest near-term negative catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Antitrust litigation risk persists — A federal judge allowed a consumer antitrust lawsuit over Google Search to proceed, keeping legal exposure and potential remedies on the radar for investors assessing longer-term regulatory risk. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total value of $202,512.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 21,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,163,524.48. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total transaction of $31,971.90. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,706,357.25. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 225,187 shares of company stock worth $69,365,318 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $328.55 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $341.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $316.33 and its 200-day moving average is $260.20. 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:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.