Argent Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 16.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,680 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,349 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.2% of Argent Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $21,944,208,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17,667.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,686,640,000 after purchasing an additional 15,159,273 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 51.7% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,607,232,000 after acquiring an additional 10,843,853 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $91,033,300,000 after acquiring an additional 6,733,278 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 201.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,547,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,153,824,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374,542 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $305.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $321.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $274.40. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and AI/cloud growth — Alphabet exceeded EPS and revenue expectations, Cloud revenue jumped ~48% and backlog expanded materially, supporting longer-term revenue and monetization from AI products. Alphabet’s Pullback: A Second Chance for Long-Term Investors?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism — Several firms raised price targets on GOOGL (noted lifts to $375 and $380), reflecting continued confidence in growth and upside vs. the recent pullback. Price Target Raised to $375 Price Target Raised to $380
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expansion — Waymo is deploying next‑gen Ojai robotaxis and using gig workers for door-closing operations, signaling commercial progress in autonomous mobility (long-term revenue optionality). Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong bond demand—but guardrails questioned — Alphabet’s recent global bond sale drew very strong demand (underscoring investor confidence), while commentary noted limited contractual protections for bondholders on a long‑dated issuance. This is liquidity/market-confidence positive but raises structural concerns for fixed‑income holders. Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails highlights investor confidence
• Neutral Sentiment: Century‑bond debate — Heavy demand for a 100‑year sterling bond signals long-duration appetite (positive for funding flexibility) but prompts caution about untested long‑dated issuance. Why Alphabet’s 100-year sterling bond is raising new fears Bond investors are betting on another 100 years of Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears unreliable — Reports show sudden increases but list zero shares and NaN changes (likely a data glitch); not a confirmed signal of rising short pressure. (internal short‑interest entries)
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust probe into search ad auctions — European regulators are investigating Google’s ad-auction practices and pricing, which could lead to fines, operational constraints in Europe, or forced changes to ad platform mechanics. Google targeted by EU over its search advertising auction practices Google hit by fresh EU antitrust probe
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and AI arms‑race fears — Alphabet’s large 2026 CapEx outlook (~$175–185B) and the broader AI infrastructure spend among hyperscalers have raised investor concern about free‑cash‑flow strain and near‑term margin/return pressures; that theme contributed to short‑term selling after earnings. Alphabet Drops 7% Post Q4 Earnings Mag 7 AI Arms Race: Heavy CapEx, FCF Strain
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness — Coverage notes that several mega‑cap tech names have softened (Magnificent Seven pressure), which amplifies selloffs in high‑multiple names like GOOGL even when fundamentals remain strong. Amazon Joins Microsoft in Bear Market

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 933 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.55, for a total transaction of $314,001.15. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,337,229.80. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $34,680.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,224,380. The trade was a 0.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,067,086 shares of company stock valued at $105,184,255. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 price objective (up from $346.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. CICC Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.64.

Alphabet 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.