Balefire LLC Has $5.76 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Balefire LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,594 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.1% of Balefire LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Alphabet by 239.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 63,128 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,198,000 after acquiring an additional 44,546 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Alphabet by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 113,605 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,236,000 after acquiring an additional 18,130 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,164,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $206,542,000 after acquiring an additional 42,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 14,709 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,656,000 after acquiring an additional 131 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 is deepening its AI infrastructure ties by backing a massive Texas data‑center project to be leased by Anthropic — a strategic move that secures capacity for large AI models and strengthens a key partner relationship. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has been raising targets: Needham and other analysts have issued $400+/high‑3xx targets and firms like Wells Fargo raised theirs recently — supporting medium‑term upside narratives despite the pullback. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals remain strong: recent quarterly beats, accelerating Google Cloud backlog (~$240B reported), and rapid Gemini adoption underpin revenue visibility and long‑term growth expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Google Research’s TurboQuant memory‑compression work has spooked memory suppliers but can be a net positive for Alphabet — lower AI infrastructure costs and greater model efficiency improve margins and competitive positioning. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technically the stock is in a correction from its highs and some commentators frame the selloff as a buying opportunity; price action below key short‑term supports is increasing volatility but not yet changing the longer‑term bull case. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk intensified after a high‑profile jury found YouTube (Alphabet) liable in a social‑media addiction bellwether case — the direct damages are small but the ruling increases headline and litigation risk across many pending suits and could force product or regulatory changes that hit engagement/ads. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market and geopolitical pressures: a tech sector selloff (Nasdaq weakness, Iran war worries) and legal blows to peers like Meta have amplified outflows from large cap tech, pressuring GOOG along with the group. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional/insider moves and high‑profile position trims (reported sales and some billionaire reductions) add selling pressure and headline risk in the near term. Read More.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total value of $10,439,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,244,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,914,730.12. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 2,110,165 shares of company stock valued at $118,134,117 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

GOOG stock opened at $273.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $312.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $295.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $350.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders 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 of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $345.71.

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.