Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,512,571 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 26,567 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 6.4% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $368,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Searle & CO. raised its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 5,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 5,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the third quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 7,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

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 big strategic push to bolster Google Cloud’s security offering and cross‑sell to existing cloud customers. Google completes $32B acquisition of Wiz
• Positive Sentiment: GFiber (Google Fiber) is combining with Stonepeak’s Astound Broadband; Alphabet takes a minority stake while Stonepeak becomes majority owner — a capital‑efficient move that trims ongoing fiber capex and creates a scaled independent broadband operator. Google sells partial stake in fiber business
• Positive Sentiment: Product and commercial momentum: Google rolled Gemini Embedding 2 into Workspace apps and logged new AI deals (e.g., Canal+), which support monetization of AI features across cloud, ads and productivity suites. Gemini AI powers Workspace automation Canal+ taps Google’s AI
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded government engagement — Google is deploying Gemini AI agents on the Pentagon portal for administrative automation, reinforcing large‑scale enterprise/government adoption of its AI stack. Google deepens Pentagon AI push
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/flow context: MarketBeat highlights the stock finding support near ~$300 and strong institutional inflows — a neutral-to-supportive backdrop for longer-term holders. Alphabet’s Pullback May Be Opening a New Entry Point
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in recent feeds appears inconsistent/corrupted (zeros/NaNs) — no clear signal from shorts today.
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and valuation caution: analysts and commentary note rising competition in AI (OpenAI, Microsoft/Anthropic) and argue the stock may still be vulnerable after the recent pullback — tempering upside despite strategic wins. Google’s AI Dominance Is Being Tested
• Negative Sentiment: Market cautiousness: commentary urging that “it’s too early to buy the dip” reflects investor wariness that could limit strong near‑term rallies. It’s Too Early To Buy the Dip in GOOG Stock

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $308.42 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $319.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $350.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $300.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $343.90.

About Alphabet

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.