DAVENPORT & Co LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 287,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 11,192 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $90,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tradewinds LLC. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2,134.8% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 45,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,984,000 after acquiring an additional 43,080 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 354,529 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $86,345,000 after purchasing an additional 84,553 shares during the last quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 221,391 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $900,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 157,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,272,000 after purchasing an additional 3,444 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $273.76 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $350.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.10. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $312.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $295.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $345.71.

More 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.

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.