Quadrature Capital Ltd Sells 261,958 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Quadrature Capital Ltd decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 56.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 261,958 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $49,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake 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 valued at $10,984,000 after purchasing an additional 43,080 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 354,529 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $86,345,000 after purchasing an additional 84,553 shares during the last quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 221,391 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 2.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank of Texas bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $900,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $303.21 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $319.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $350.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,244,372 shares in the company, valued at $720,914,730.12. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet News Summary

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price target (up from $355.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $370.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.90.

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.