NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Boosts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 60,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,502 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 170,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 157,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,272,000 after buying an additional 3,444 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank of Texas acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $900,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,164,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $206,542,000 after acquiring an additional 42,028 shares during the period. Finally, Tower View Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,644 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total value of $800,786.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,739 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,884.14. This represents a 19.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 225,187 shares of company stock valued at $69,365,318. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $328.55 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 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. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $341.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $316.33 and a 200 day moving average of $261.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Pivotal Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $300.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.13.

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.