Defender Capital LLC. Invests $1.23 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Defender Capital LLC. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.4% of Defender Capital LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GenWealth Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. GenWealth Group Inc. now owns 1,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in Alphabet by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,226,139 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $384,762,000 after buying an additional 40,107 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 109,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,154,000 after acquiring an additional 16,939 shares during the period. Myecfo LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 10,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC now owns 19,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,075,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $345.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,244,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,914,730.12. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about 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.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $273.76 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.10. 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 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Alphabet Company 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.