Caerus Investment Advisors LLC Sells 23,159 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Caerus Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 35.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,481 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 23,159 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 4.1% of Caerus Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA raised its stake in Alphabet by 15.6% during the third quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 8,974 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 20.0% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 42,586 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,372,000 after acquiring an additional 7,105 shares during the period. Penobscot Wealth Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. AdviceOne Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the third quarter. AdviceOne Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 156,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,075,000 after purchasing an additional 18,653 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total transaction of $33,934.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,580,469.82. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total transaction of $9,859,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,674,560 shares in the company, valued at $508,028,012.80. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,076,615 shares of company stock valued at $107,809,111. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $345.71.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MoffettNathanson reiterated a Buy rating and kept a $350 price target, citing robust YouTube monetization and positioning Alphabet as a top media/ad franchise—this typically supports investor confidence in revenue upside. MoffettNathanson Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet paid a cash dividend ($0.21/share on March 16), signaling shareholder-friendly capital allocation and returning cash to investors—a direct positive for yield-seeking holders. Dividend Payout
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Alphabet’s massive multi‑year investments (reported at ~$346B) is being framed as driving durable growth and scale benefits to the bottom line—supportive for long-term earnings expectations. $346B Investment Boost
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reports Google procurement teams in China are in talks to buy liquid cooling systems from Envicool and others—operational detail that may lower data‑center costs or raise supply/geopolitical considerations depending on outcomes. China Cooling Systems Talks
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in the aggregated feed shows anomalous zeroes for March (likely a reporting/data issue); no clear signal for increased bearish bets from that metric today.
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of quantum computing competition (IBM vs. other players) notes Alphabet’s activity in the space but does not yet alter near‑term revenue—relevant for long‑range R&D narrative but not immediate earnings. Quantum Computing Landscape
• Negative Sentiment: European publishers and tech firms are pressing the EU to speed a probe and potential fine over Google Search self‑preferencing—an escalated regulatory risk that could hit search economics or lead to enforcement costs. EU Antitrust Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst commentary flags valuation concerns (mid‑20s P/E) and rising capex/margin pressure despite AI-driven growth—this frames upside as dependent on sustained margin recovery and execution. Valuation Concerns

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $309.41 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $350.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $319.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.