First Western Trust Bank Has $15.60 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

First Western Trust Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,170 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,457 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.7% of First Western Trust Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Delta Asset Management LLC TN grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd 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 lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in 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 boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,963 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $279.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “overweight” 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 company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 16th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.18.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $302.28 on Monday. 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 stock 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $349.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $319.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.39.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories 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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 9,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,076,615 shares of company stock valued at $107,809,111. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.