Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,981,813 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,984 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.6% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $481,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Washington Growth Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,964.5% during the 2nd quarter. Washington Growth Strategies LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045 shares during the period. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,214 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $322.86 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $321.60 and a 200-day moving average of $271.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $349.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,067,686 shares of company stock valued at $105,352,291 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Alphabet from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. President Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $258.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.46.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q4 estimates with $113.8B revenue, $2.82 EPS, huge Google Cloud growth (48% y/y) and milestone annual revenue above $400B — evidence that AI and ads are driving durable top‑line momentum. Alphabet Crushes Earnings Again, Reports 48% Cloud Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini/product adoption and a surging cloud backlog (reported at ~$240B) support longer‑term revenue leverage from AI investments — a structural growth argument investors and many analysts are citing. Google goes from laggard to leader as it pulls ahead of OpenAI with stellar AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokers raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views after the quarter (e.g., Citigroup, JPMorgan, RBC, Needham, Mizuho), providing analyst support under the share price. Multiple analyst price target raises (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest data shows no meaningful short position change (reads as negligible/quiet on short‑selling activity), so moves are likely driven by flows and sentiment rather than a short squeeze.
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF/sector flows and inclusion chatter (new Big Tech ETFs) can amplify moves in GOOGL but are not company‑specific catalysts. Big Tech Core: New Burney ETF Packs Apple, Nvidia, Google, Broadcom Punch
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet guided to $175–$185B of capex for 2026 (aimed at AI compute and cloud), a shockingly large jump that has investors fretting about near‑term free cash flow and returns on incremental AI spend — the dominant proximate cause of recent weakness. Alphabet resets the bar for AI infrastructure spending (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market narrative: fears about excessive AI capex are prompting a tech sell‑off (FactSet noted >$1T wiped from big‑tech), which weighs on Alphabet alongside company‑specific capex concerns. Big Tech sees over $1 trillion wiped from stocks as fears of AI bubble ignite sell-off
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was reported after the quarter, adding near‑term pressure on sentiment. Alphabet Shares Down After Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Employee protests over Google Cloud contracts with immigration agencies pose reputational/legal risk that can create headline volatility. Google Workers Demand End to Cloud Services for Immigration Agencies

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.