Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY Sells 14,989 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 253,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 14,989 shares during the period. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $61,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the third quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Searle & CO. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 5,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 5,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 7,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $303.21 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $319.64 and its 200-day moving average is $289.11. 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 $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.90.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total value of $10,439,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,244,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,914,730.12. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet closed its largest?ever acquisition, buying cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion — a move that strengthens Google Cloud’s security offering and could help accelerate enterprise cloud adoption. Google completes $32B acquisition of Wiz
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to monetize AI across products: Gemini is being added to Google Maps (“Ask Maps”) and Workspace (Docs/Sheets/Slides/Drive), which can drive engagement and incremental ad/cloud revenue over time. Google Adds Gemini AI to Google Maps
• Positive Sentiment: Google cut Android developer fees and expanded billing options, resolving a long dispute with Epic and enabling Fortnite’s return to the Play Store — a signal that policy changes may improve Play Store monetization and developer relations. Google App Store Brings Back Fortnite, Changes Fee Structure
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is combining its GFiber unit with Astound Broadband, retaining a minority stake while Stonepeak becomes majority owner — this monetizes a capital?intensive asset but limits future control/returns. Google sells partial stake in fiber business
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and institutional backdrop remains supportive: multiple upgrades, a large buy consensus and continued inflows help underpin the longer?term case even as the stock retraces; MarketBeat/analysis note $300 area as key technical support. Alphabet pullback and analyst coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Short?interest reports in recent feeds show zero or inconsistent figures (likely data anomalies), so don’t read too much into the reported “spike” — short interest appears not to be a driver today.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks: UK regulator pressure to protect children online and ongoing AI?related legal/competitive noise (lawsuits mentioned around Gemini) add headline risk that can pressure multiples for large tech names. Big tech warned to protect children online
• Negative Sentiment: Sizeable cash outlay for Wiz and heightened competition from other AI/cloud players mean investors may be cautious about near?term free?cash flow and integration risk despite strategic rationale. Google completes $32B purchase of Wiz

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.