Towercrest Capital Management Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Towercrest Capital Management raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 126.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,284 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,390 shares during the period. Towercrest Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 2nd 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 period. Moment Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 9.3% in the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $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 second 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 period. Brooktree Capital Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $352,000. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 13.9% during 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 in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple ties Gemini to Siri, widening Gemini distribution and strengthening Alphabet’s AI moat — a material revenue/strategic positive for GOOGL that supports premium multiples and growth expectations. How Apple’s Gemini-Powered Siri Deal Will Impact Alphabet (GOOGL) Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple bullish analyst moves — Wolfe Research lifted its price target to $390, Raymond James upgraded to “strong buy” and raised targets (reports of a $400 target), and Deutsche Bank raised its target — fueling buy-side momentum and supporting upside expectations. Wolfe Research Adjusts Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Google pushes into AI shopping and other AI-enabled monetization avenues — analysts and outlets highlight accelerating product-led revenue opportunities that underpin long-term growth. Google’s Making a Splash in AI Shopping
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/market commentary: recent ~3–4% pullback called a routine consolidation within a long-term uptrend — suggests no fundamental change but signals caution for investors seeking cheaper entry points. Alphabet Cools After the Run: Buy Now or Wait for a Better Entry?
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo launched robotaxi service in Miami (business expansion) — growth opportunity for autonomous revenue but not yet material to near-term GAAP results. Waymo launches robotaxi service in Miami
• Negative Sentiment: NTSB opens an investigation after Waymo robotaxis were recorded illegally passing stopped school buses multiple times — raises regulatory, safety and reputational risks for Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit and could lead to operational constraints or fines. US safety board opens probe into Waymo robotaxis passing stopped school buses
• Negative Sentiment: Federal judge allowed a consumer antitrust lawsuit over Google’s default-search payments to proceed — continued legal exposure that could affect search economics and ad revenue over time. Judge Orders Google to Face Consumer Antitrust Lawsuit Over Search

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $390.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $320.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.40.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total transaction of $202,512.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,163,524.48. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at $2,798,832.60. This represents a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 222,409 shares of company stock valued at $68,564,532. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $328.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.08. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $315.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $259.50. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $340.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Alphabet

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.