Cullen Investment Group LTD. Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 109,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,939 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.7% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $36,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904,434 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Alphabet by 73.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,808,152 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,388,775,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154,929 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 330.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,989,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $707,691,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062,590 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $678,198,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $455,745,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $273.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.39. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $350.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average 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.