Violich Capital Management Inc. Acquires 7,845 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Violich Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 337,398 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,845 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 9.8% of Violich Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $82,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Kooman & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 4,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 307,678 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,579,000 after buying an additional 9,875 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 36,475 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,470,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $328.55 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $316.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $261.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $341.20.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total transaction of $10,637,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,211,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $723,945,705.60. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet 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. The trade was 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. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Profile

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.