Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is LSV Asset Management’s 2nd Largest Position

LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 301.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,553,418 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,917,246 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.4% of LSV Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $620,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Corsicana & Co. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $54,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, S&T Bank PA raised its holdings in Alphabet by 40.2% during the 2nd quarter. S&T Bank PA now owns 345 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Alphabet from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $354.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.57.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $313.00 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $320.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.27. The company has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.95, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. Research analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. 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: Alphabet is folding its robotics-software unit Intrinsic into Google, signalling tighter integration of robotics/physical AI efforts and likely faster commercialization of automation tools. Former Alphabet ‘moonshot’ robotics company Intrinsic is folding into Google
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo is expanding robotaxi testing to Chicago and Charlotte, accelerating route expansion and potential near-term revenue scale for Alphabet’s autonomous-vehicle unit. Waymo to begin testing in Chicago and Charlotte
• Positive Sentiment: Samsung’s S26 demonstrates deeper adoption of Google’s Gemini (autonomously operating third‑party apps), which supports Gemini’s distribution thesis and monetization pathway across devices. Samsung’s S26 gives an advance look at what the Google-powered Apple Siri could do
• Positive Sentiment: Google announced a major 1.9GW clean-power backing for a new data center including a 100‑hour iron‑air battery — a long-duration storage deal that lowers carbon and energy risk for AI datacenter ops. Google’s new 1.9GW clean energy deal includes massive 100-hour battery
• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital raised its GOOGL price target to $355, and Wells Fargo issued an upgrade — analyst support that can boost sentiment and flows into the stock. Loop Capital Boosts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $355.00
• Positive Sentiment: Google says it disrupted a China‑linked hacking group that attacked dozens of organizations globally — a security win that reduces operational risk and demonstrates enterprise trustworthiness. Google disrupts Chinese-linked hackers that attacked 53 groups globally
• Neutral Sentiment: February short‑interest data in feeds appears erroneous (shows 0 shares / NaN changes); no clear short‑squeeze signal from that report. (data entry)
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure in Europe: Reuters reports Google will test showing rivals’ vertical search results more prominently to try to avoid an EU fine — highlights ongoing antitrust risk that can cap multiples. Exclusive: Google to test changes to search results, source says as EU fine looms
• Negative Sentiment: Russia fined Google ~22 million roubles (~$288k) over VPN distribution — a small hit monetarily but another reminder of geopolitical/legal friction in certain markets. Russia fines Google for distributing VPN services, TASS reports
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of insider selling were flagged in headlines, which can weigh on near‑term sentiment even if the transactions are not material to long‑term fundamentals. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 1.1% After Insider Selling

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,818,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $856,605,814.08. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock worth $119,145,289. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.