Root Financial Partners LLC Buys 2,594 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,594 shares during the quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2,134.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 45,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,984,000 after acquiring an additional 43,080 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 170,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 157,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,272,000 after purchasing an additional 3,444 shares during the period. American National Bank of Texas bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $900,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.7% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,164,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $206,542,000 after purchasing an additional 42,028 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mirae Asset added roughly 319,164 shares of GOOGL (~$100M), signaling institutional buying interest into Alphabet. Fund Update: Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Ltd. Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Positive Sentiment: Needham/Laura Martin reaffirmed a Buy rating and maintained a ~$330 price target, giving Wall Street validation for continued upside. Alphabet’s Enduring Ad Moat: Why OpenAI’s Emerging Ad Model Supports a Buy Rating on GOOGL
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat coverage of Pelosi’s portfolio shows continued bullish, leveraged exposure to Alphabet (via LEAPS), which is a signal of long-term conviction from a high-profile investor. Pelosi’s Bullish 2026 Buy List: AI, Power & Dividends
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube is now cited as a top social-media source for AI model training, reinforcing Alphabet’s data advantage for AI products and ads (long-term growth driver). Google’s (GOOGL) YouTube Surpasses Reddit as Top Social Media Source for AI Models
• Neutral Sentiment: Daily market recaps report Alphabet shares trading higher versus the broader market, reflecting the net effect of the items below rather than fresh company-specific catalysts. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s VC arm participated in AI ecosystem financings (e.g., Synthesia), which supports long-term AI strategy but is peripheral to near-term earnings. Nvidia and Alphabet VC arms back AI startup Synthesia at $4 billion valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet CEO stock sales were reported; such disclosures often trigger short-term attention but are frequently routine or pre-scheduled. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sells $10,637,250.00 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Google agreed to a preliminary $68 million settlement over claims Google Assistant unlawfully recorded users — reputational and legal headwinds, though the payout is small versus Alphabet’s size; judge approval is pending. Google pays $68 million to settle claims its voice assistant spied on users
• Negative Sentiment: Emerging ad models from rivals (e.g., OpenAI/ChatGPT ad initiatives) and continued product launches from hyperscalers (Microsoft’s Maia 200 chip) increase competitive pressure on ad and cloud margins over time. ChatGPT Ad Model’s Potential to Shatter META & GOOGL Duopoly

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $327.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $333.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $317.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $262.47. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $341.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total transaction of $202,512.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,224 shares in the company, valued at $7,163,524.48. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total value of $31,971.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,706,357.25. The trade was a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 225,187 shares of company stock worth $69,365,318. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.