HWG Holdings LP Purchases 9,942 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

HWG Holdings LP raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,628 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,942 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 7.5% of HWG Holdings LP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. HWG Holdings LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TurboQuant AI compression positions Alphabet to cut AI infrastructure costs and extend its AI leadership, which could boost margins and reduce dependence on memory suppliers. Alphabet Just Introduced Its Newest AI Advantage, and It’s Another Reason to Buy the Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst outlooks are supportive: a published price target increase to $397 signals upside from the sell-side and may provide buying interest. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $397.00
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reiterated a Buy rating, reinforcing institutional support and potentially limiting downside as some funds watch analyst guidance. Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street and independent finance experts remain broadly positive on end‑of‑2026 price prospects, supporting medium-term investor confidence. Finance experts predict Google stock price for end of 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Last week’s near‑9% drop is partly market-driven (broader index weakness/geo‑political risk); however, Alphabet remains the top-performing Magnificent Seven name over 12 months and is the only peer above its 200‑day SMA — a mixed technical picture to monitor. After Falling Nearly 9% Last Week, Has Alphabet Lost Its Edge?
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Sundar Pichai’s routine, pre‑planned sale of shares resurfaced in headlines but aligns with his historical pattern and is unlikely to signal new negative insider activity. After Falling Nearly 9% Last Week, Has Alphabet Lost Its Edge?
• Neutral Sentiment: High‑profile personnel moves (a former Google CMO left with a large equity package; Apple hired a Google shopping exec) are noteworthy for talent flow but are not immediate earnings drivers. Meet the ex-Google CMO who quit with a seven-figure package by 28 Apple Recruits Google Shopping Exec to Lead AI Marketing
• Negative Sentiment: Landmark social‑media addiction verdict found YouTube negligent, raising litigation risk and regulatory attention that could increase legal costs or policy constraints over time. Meta and Google lost a major social media addiction lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Large portfolio moves by Ark Invest (sales of Alphabet shares) add selling pressure and can amplify downside during volatile sessions. Cathie Wood Going Cold On Big Tech? Ark Sells Nvidia, AMD, Meta And Google Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Poaching of senior product marketing talent by rivals (Apple) highlights competition for AI marketing expertise and could modestly pressure execution in consumer/ads initiatives. Apple Recruits Google Shopping Exec to Lead AI Marketing

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Alphabet from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.06.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the sale, the director owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 2,092,336 shares of company stock valued at $112,519,943 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $273.50 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $311.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $295.63. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $349.00. 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:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Alphabet Company 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.