Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 499,301 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,908 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 4.4% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $156,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 145.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 196 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 56.8% in the third quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 218 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI momentum — Google’s Gemini upgrades and other AI improvements are boosting Search engagement and product monetization potential, supporting the longer-term ad and cloud growth thesis. Analysts and AI-focused commentary highlight upside from AI-driven search/product improvements. Zacks: Alphabet Relies on AI to Boost Search Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/institutional support — Some firms have nudged up FY EPS estimates and price targets (Erste, MarketBeat coverage of broad analyst upgrades), reflecting confidence in cloud, search and Gemini monetization — a stabilizing factor for long-term holders. MarketBeat: Analyst Optimism and Upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational milestones — Waymo and DeepMind deals (robotics, AD miles) show execution in adjacent growth areas; positive for long-term optionality but limited near-term revenue impact. These are credibility wins but not big drivers of current quarter results. Blockonomi: Waymo Milestone
• Negative Sentiment: Landmark liability verdicts — A Los Angeles jury found Google (YouTube) liable in a youth social-media addiction case; the ruling is being framed as a bellwether that could spur more suits and regulatory scrutiny. Investors are pricing in higher legal/regulatory risk and potential compliance costs, which has pressured the stock today. Reuters: US jury verdicts tee up fight over tech liability shield
• Negative Sentiment: Sector spillover from AI/chip headlines — Google researchers’ memory-compression news (and the related debate) has sparked volatility across memory/chip suppliers; that throws a short-term cold shower on tech sentiment and can drive indiscriminate selling in megacaps despite the company being the source of the innovation. CNBC: Google AI breakthrough pressures memory chip stocks

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $280.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $314.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.73. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GOOG. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $345.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 2,244,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,914,730.12. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.