Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Holdings Lessened by Montecito Bank & Trust

Montecito Bank & Trust lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 18.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,649 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.2% of Montecito Bank & Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $984,000. Post Resch Tallon Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,146 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219 shares in the last quarter. TABR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $287,000. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 38,673 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,105,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI/product traction: Analysts note Alphabet’s AI-powered Search and Gemini engagement are picking up, supporting longer-term revenue upside from search and cloud monetization. Alphabet Relies on AI to Boost Search Growth: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/upside support: MarketBeat and other brokers have been upgrading GOOGL and lifting price targets (consensus targets imply material upside), and Erste Group nudged FY26–27 EPS estimates higher — a tailwind for sentiment beyond short-term noise. Analyst Optimism: MarketBeat’s Most Upgraded Stocks of 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Product breakthrough vs. market noise: Google’s TurboQuant/compression research (claims of big memory reductions for LLMs) is a technical win for Google’s AI efficiency but has sparked volatility in semiconductor/memory names and some ETF flows — ambiguous near-term impact for GOOGL equity. A Google AI breakthrough is pressuring memory chip stocks from Samsung to Micron
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF and positioning flows: New ETFs and covered-call strategies (e.g., JUDO) are reallocating into/away from AI and semiconductor exposures; this can amplify short-term moves but doesn’t change Alphabet’s underlying fundamentals. Nvidia, Alphabet, Microsoft Power New JUDO ETF — Can Covered Calls Supercharge Returns?
• Negative Sentiment: Landmark legal risk: A Los Angeles jury found YouTube (Alphabet) liable in a youth social-media addiction case, awarding compensatory damages and opening the door to broader litigation and regulatory scrutiny — a clear catalyst for selling pressure on big-tech names. US jury verdicts against Meta, Google tee up fight over tech liability shield
• Negative Sentiment: Technical/flow-driven weakness: The stock has broken key support levels and entered a correction phase, which amplifies downward momentum as quant/technical selling and option activity kick in. Alphabet Has Fallen 16% From Its Highs: Panic or Opportunity?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/management churn in key markets: Google’s top India counsel resigned amid regulatory pressure, underscoring execution and policy risks in a major growth market. Google top India counsel quits in latest departure amid regulatory hurdles, sources say
• Negative Sentiment: Cost pressure risk: Geopolitical-driven energy price spikes raise near-term concerns about higher operating costs for energy-intensive AI/data-center operations. Why Alphabet (GOOGL) Shares Are Falling Today

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet 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 $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.5%

GOOGL opened at $280.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $314.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $294.34. 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 posted 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued 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 presently 7.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Daiwa Securities Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 target price (up from $346.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Alphabet from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.18.

About Alphabet

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.