Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 3,097,738 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,710,414 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,097,738 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.9% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,105,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,511,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428,266 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904,434 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,749,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,203 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,583,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,935,671,000 after purchasing an additional 223,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,625,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,971,769,000 after purchasing an additional 539,679 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $345.71.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $289.59 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $350.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $315.11 and its 200-day moving average is $294.83.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind/robotics partnership expands commercial uses for Gemini models and underscores Alphabet’s leadership in agentic AI — a near‑term narrative investors reward. Google partners with Agile Robots
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud wins and industry deals (Openreach, BMO tokenization) reinforce enterprise monetization of AI/Cloud, supporting revenue growth that analysts cite in upgraded price targets. Openreach taps Google AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical and product improvements — lower‑memory AI algorithms and better AI‑generated music — improve efficiency and product appeal but are incremental for near‑term earnings. Google introduces new algos to reduce AI memory usage
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/product initiatives in key markets — e.g., labeling verified investment apps in India — lower consumer‑risk friction but also signal more local compliance work for Google Play and services. Google to label verified investment apps in India
• Negative Sentiment: A Los Angeles jury found Google’s YouTube negligent in a social‑media addiction lawsuit — a small compensatory award now but a potential legal precedent that could multiply future litigation, settlement costs and regulatory scrutiny for platforms. That verdict has been the headline driver of earlier selling pressure. What did jury decide in social media case against Meta and Google?
• Negative Sentiment: Broader investor concerns — heavy AI capex, sector technical weakness and commentary about slide toward bear‑market territory — keep near‑term downside risk even as fundamentals improve. Google Stock Slides Toward Bear Market Territory

About Alphabet

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.