Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Holdings Decreased by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 18.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,165 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,534 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.5% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Delta Asset Management LLC TN raised its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 6,153 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Matisse Capital grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 14,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Breakwater Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 4,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google and Apple are adding music-focused generative-AI features to core apps, showing Alphabet’s AI tech is moving into mainstream consumer experiences that can drive engagement and ad/licensing opportunities. Google Gemini, Apple add music-focused generative AI features
• Positive Sentiment: Google will develop AI tools with Sea Ltd for e-commerce and gaming in Southeast Asia — a tie-up that expands Google Cloud and AI reach in high-growth markets, boosting potential cloud revenue. Google, Shopee-owner Sea to develop AI tools for e-commerce, gaming
• Positive Sentiment: Industry mega-deals like the NVIDIA–Meta expansion reinforce massive, multiyear demand for AI compute — a tailwind for Google Cloud (inference/deployment demand) as hyperscalers lock in infrastructure spending. NVIDIA and Meta Deepen Their AI Alliance
• Positive Sentiment: Big investors remain supportive: Berkshire Hathaway kept its Alphabet stake in recent filings and other high-profile investors (e.g., David Tepper) have increased exposure — signals of institutional confidence in Alphabet’s cloud/AI strategy. Berkshire & AI Hyperscalers: Buffett Holds GOOGL, Dumps AMZN
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking Holdings’ stock-split/earnings story spotlights Google’s Travel/AI booking capabilities — the piece underscores competitive dynamics (Google can disintermediate travel booking) but it’s more relevant as industry context than an immediate revenue swing for Alphabet. Booking Holdings Split: The Catalyst Wall Street Didn’t See Coming
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director John Hennessy sold 600 shares (filed in mid-February) — a small but visible insider sale that can amplify short-term selling narratives. Alphabet Director John Hennessy Sells 600 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo/regulatory and operational noise: New York regulatory shifts and scrutiny around remote-assistance in robotaxis constrain Waymo’s expansion and keep a regulatory overhang on Alphabet’s AV ambitions. New York Gov. Hochul drops robotaxi service proposal for outside NYC
• Negative Sentiment: Service reliability and cost concerns: A YouTube outage and commentary about Alphabet’s heavy CapEx for AI compute contribute to short-term profit-taking and worries about near-term margins. YouTube outage hits over 32,000 users

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wall Street Zen raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price target (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 price target (up previously from $346.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,079,982 shares of company stock valued at $109,267,889 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2%

GOOGL opened at $302.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $349.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.02, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $320.20 and a 200-day moving average of $277.46.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.