Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Country Trust Bank

Country Trust Bank reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 236,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 138,713 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.3% of Country Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $57,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings 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 valued at $448,684,000 after purchasing an additional 56,295 shares during the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.3% in the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% in the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. Brooktree Capital Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $352,000. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 13.9% during the third quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,277,000 after acquiring an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $336.01 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $340.49. The company has a market capitalization of $4.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.08. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $318.48 and a 200-day moving average of $263.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 222,297 shares of company stock valued at $68,531,851 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer praised Alphabet as “extraordinary,” reinforcing investor enthusiasm around the company’s AI leadership and growth narrative. Alphabet (GOOGL)’s extraordinary, says Jim Cramer
• Positive Sentiment: Google is pushing product-level AI gains — adding image-generation to Chrome and a virtual assistant side panel — which supports ad/search monetization and user engagement upside. Google adds AI image generation to Chrome browser, side panel option for virtual assistant
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is accelerating strategic AI acquisitions and deals to bolster Gemini across media, voice and international markets — a sign management is doubling down on defensible AI distribution. Google Accelerates AI Deals to Strengthen Gemini in Media and Voice
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms reiterated buy ratings and upgrades for GOOGL this week, supporting near-term demand from momentum-driven investors. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest entries show effectively zero reported short positions in the latest filings, but the data appears to contain anomalies (NaN/0) and is not a clear market signal. (internal short-interest data)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst previews expect earnings growth for the upcoming report, which could set the stage for another beat if AI ad/cloud momentum continues. Alphabet (GOOGL) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Google says it disrupted a major residential proxy network (IPIDEA), removing domains and protecting “millions” of devices — a reputational win demonstrating security capabilities and reducing operational risk. Google disrupts large residential proxy network, reducing devices used by operators by ‘millions’
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Competition & Markets Authority proposed rules forcing Google to give publishers opt-outs for AI summaries and greater transparency — this raises content licensing and product constraints in a major market. UK regulator proposes changes to Google search for publishers
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure in the EU and U.K. (DMA guidance, proposed conduct rules) could force data/access sharing and limit some search/AI advantages — a structural risk to margins and competitive moat. U.K. Competition Watchdog Plans New Rules for Google’s AI Overviews Under Tech Law
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet agreed to a $135 million settlement over handling of cellular data, which includes changes to Play Store and Android setup screens — a modest direct hit but adds regulatory/legal costs and operational change. Google to Pay $135 Million to Settle Lawsuit Over Handling of Cellular Data

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. CIBC lifted their price objective on Alphabet to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, President Capital upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $258.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. 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, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $334.60.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.