BNP Paribas Lowers Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

BNP Paribas lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 284,825 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,554 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.0% of BNP Paribas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $67,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 4,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major competitor Meta has delayed a next?generation AI release and reportedly discussed temporarily licensing Google’s Gemini model, which could help Alphabet expand usage/licensing of its AI stack and win incremental share. Meta delays release; may license Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company reaffirmed a “buy” on GOOGL and set a $400 price target (~32% upside from current levels), which can support investor confidence and buying interest. Needham reiterates buy
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlight Meta falling behind on large AI models (and considering licensing Google tech), reinforcing the view that Google could capture market share in foundational models and services. Meta falling behind — Yahoo
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Alphabet’s earnings growth and price strength as reasons to watch GOOGL, supporting a constructive fundamental view after recent results. Zacks: earnings growth & price strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Google, Amazon and Meta pushing their own AI chips signals a structural shift in AI infrastructure — a long?term positive if Google’s stack wins, but it intensifies competition with incumbents like NVIDIA and may pressure margins/capex. AI chips competition — Yahoo
• Neutral Sentiment: Google sold a partial stake in its GFiber unit and partnered to form a new independent fiber provider; this reduces direct capital burden but also trims ownership of the broadband growth asset. GFiber stake sale — CNBC
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand/PR note: Google named its London HQ “Platform 37” referencing DeepMind/AlphaGo success — modestly positive for culture/AI branding but not material to near?term financials. Platform 37 naming — Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulator and wider regulatory scrutiny on tech safety and child protection remain overhangs for Big Tech, including Alphabet, since new rules or enforcement could increase compliance costs or constrain certain services. UK regulator warning — Sky

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $302.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $319.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.81. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $349.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total transaction of $9,859,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,674,560 shares in the company, valued at $508,028,012.80. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. President Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $323.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $348.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.18.

Alphabet 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.