Blume Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,120 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Blume Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 81,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,120 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 3.8% of Blume Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Blume Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,298,572,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,927,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,182,111 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 73.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,808,152 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,388,775,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154,929 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 17,547.9% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,122,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $731,331,000 after buying an additional 4,099,366 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 330.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,989,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $707,691,000 after buying an additional 3,062,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s results and AI traction remain strong: Cloud revenue and enterprise backlog are accelerating and Gemini user metrics/support drive upside to long‑term monetization. Zacks: The Zacks Analyst Alphabet…
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo deployment of next‑gen robotaxis signals commercial progress for Alphabet’s autonomous‑vehicle unit, a longer‑term growth catalyst. CNBC: Waymo begins deploying next‑gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Some large asset managers are net buying while others trimmed positions — BNP Paribas added a multi‑million share position in GOOG, offsetting other institutional reductions. QuiverQuant: BNP Paribas fund update
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest figures in recent feeds show zero shares (likely a data anomaly), so shorting activity is not a clear driver today.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet completed a very large multi‑currency debt offering (including long‑dated tranches/century bond reports), which has spooked some investors worried about aggressive debt‑funded CapEx and the lack of customary bond protections. Reuters: Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails…
• Negative Sentiment: Management guided 2026 CapEx sharply higher (~$175–$185B), and the market has treated that as a near‑term cash‑flow/headwind risk despite its AI rationale — this contributed to post‑earnings weakness. Zacks: Alphabet drops 7% post Q4 earnings
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust scrutiny has resurfaced: regulators are probing Google’s search‑ads auction/pricing practices in Europe, introducing regulatory risk for ad monetization. Reuters: Google targeted by EU over search advertising auction practices
• Negative Sentiment: Notable institutional trimming reported in 13F updates (e.g., Neuberger, Swiss National Bank saw reductions), which can pressure intraday liquidity/psychology even as other funds add exposure. QuiverQuant: Neuberger Berman fund update

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $306.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $350.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The company 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $34,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,307 shares in the company, valued at $6,224,380. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total transaction of $10,893,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,179,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,481,906.96. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,069,864 shares of company stock worth $105,985,041. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $343.90.

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.