17,846,142 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Purchased by Berkshire Hathaway Inc

Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 17,846,142 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,338,397,000. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.6% of Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Berkshire Hathaway Inc owned approximately 0.15% of Alphabet at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delta Asset Management LLC TN lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 6,153 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,496,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Matisse Capital increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 14,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the third quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,963 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

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 Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $302.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $349.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $319.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 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 currently 7.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. New Street Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.18.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total value of $184,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,624 shares in the company, valued at $6,325,999.52. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock worth $118,605,094. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.