Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 236,227 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,273 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.1% of Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $57,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Matisse Capital grew 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 valued at $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Breakwater Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 4,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the third quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Fonville Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,244,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,914,730.12. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,067,086 shares of company stock worth $105,184,255 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $305.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $321.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $274.40. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $361.64.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and AI/cloud growth — Alphabet exceeded EPS and revenue expectations, Cloud revenue jumped ~48% and backlog expanded materially, supporting longer-term revenue and monetization from AI products. Alphabet’s Pullback: A Second Chance for Long-Term Investors?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism — Several firms raised price targets on GOOGL (noted lifts to $375 and $380), reflecting continued confidence in growth and upside vs. the recent pullback. Price Target Raised to $375 Price Target Raised to $380
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expansion — Waymo is deploying next?gen Ojai robotaxis and using gig workers for door-closing operations, signaling commercial progress in autonomous mobility (long-term revenue optionality). Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong bond demand—but guardrails questioned — Alphabet’s recent global bond sale drew very strong demand (underscoring investor confidence), while commentary noted limited contractual protections for bondholders on a long?dated issuance. This is liquidity/market-confidence positive but raises structural concerns for fixed?income holders. Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails highlights investor confidence
• Neutral Sentiment: Century?bond debate — Heavy demand for a 100?year sterling bond signals long-duration appetite (positive for funding flexibility) but prompts caution about untested long?dated issuance. Why Alphabet’s 100-year sterling bond is raising new fears Bond investors are betting on another 100 years of Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Short?interest data appears unreliable — Reports show sudden increases but list zero shares and NaN changes (likely a data glitch); not a confirmed signal of rising short pressure. (internal short?interest entries)
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust probe into search ad auctions — European regulators are investigating Google’s ad-auction practices and pricing, which could lead to fines, operational constraints in Europe, or forced changes to ad platform mechanics. Google targeted by EU over its search advertising auction practices Google hit by fresh EU antitrust probe
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and AI arms?race fears — Alphabet’s large 2026 CapEx outlook (~$175–185B) and the broader AI infrastructure spend among hyperscalers have raised investor concern about free?cash?flow strain and near?term margin/return pressures; that theme contributed to short?term selling after earnings. Alphabet Drops 7% Post Q4 Earnings Mag 7 AI Arms Race: Heavy CapEx, FCF Strain
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness — Coverage notes that several mega?cap tech names have softened (Magnificent Seven pressure), which amplifies selloffs in high?multiple names like GOOGL even when fundamentals remain strong. Amazon Joins Microsoft in Bear Market

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.