Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Has $41.72 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 133,285 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,221 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 3.0% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,693,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Delta Asset Management LLC TN increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 6,153 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 4,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Matisse Capital raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 14,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,110,165 shares of company stock valued at $118,134,117 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.06.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and price-target raises reinforce bullish medium-term views — Wells Fargo raised its price target and kept an Overweight rating, and Needham reaffirmed its Buy with a $400 target; MarketBeat and other outlets note heavy analyst upgrading of GOOGL. These moves support upside expectations despite short-term weakness. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI innovation (TurboQuant / Gemini traction) is being framed as a competitive advantage — the company’s new compression research and Gemini adoption could lower AI operating costs and drive product differentiation, strengthening long-term revenue prospects. This is part of why some analysts lifted estimates and price targets. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals remain solid: recent earnings beat, robust cloud growth and advertising resilience provide a valuation anchor and a reason many institutions view pullbacks as buying opportunities. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical correction — the stock has moved below $300 and broken key short-term support, which can amplify volatility even if the longer-term trend stays intact; investors should watch $280–$260 support zones. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Executive departure in India: Google’s top India counsel resigned amid ongoing regulatory challenges in a key market, a factor to monitor for regional regulatory execution but not an immediate earnings driver. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Landmark jury verdicts finding YouTube/Google liable in social-media addiction cases have created legal overhang and the possibility of broader litigation or regulatory exposure — courts and commentators compare potential fallout to past “Big Tobacco”-style settlements, increasing perceived legal risk for Alphabet. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: New lawsuits allege Google’s search/AI features disclosed personal information of Jeffrey Epstein victims; such privacy/AI-related claims add another legal/regulatory headline that can pressure sentiment and increase potential litigation costs or product changes. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech selloff — geopolitical war worries and landmark Meta legal losses have sparked rotation out of large-cap tech this week, amplifying Alphabet’s decline despite company-specific strengths. Market risk sentiment is a near-term headwind. Read More.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $274.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $313.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.40. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.