Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 519.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,428 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,228 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.6% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $58,000. AAF Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.0% in the first quarter. AAF Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,376 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,090,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 119,386 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,652,000 after acquiring an additional 10,289 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street upgrades and higher price targets lift the growth narrative for Google Cloud and AI; Jefferies recently raised its target to $365 and many firms maintain buy/outperform calls, supporting longer-term upside. Jefferies raises price target
• Positive Sentiment: Product & commercial traction for Gemini and AI is improving distribution: Samsung plans to double devices running Gemini to ~800M units this year — a major scale tailwind for Gemini adoption across mobile. Samsung to double Gemini devices
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure push: initiatives like TorchTPU, increased TPU patenting and moves to reduce Nvidia dependence, plus cloud/infrastructure M&A, strengthen Alphabet’s ability to monetize AI at scale. These strategic moves are supportive of margins and competitive positioning. Seeking Alpha on TorchTPU & infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Small lobbying disclosure: ~$80k reported for Google Public Sector work on DoD cloud services — notable for contract tracking but not material by itself. Quiver lobbying disclosure
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy insider selling is a clear near-term negative: Quiver data shows 161 insider sales in six months (including large Sundar Pichai sales), which can spook investors and fuel profit-taking. Quiver on insider selling & sentiment
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive risks: OpenAI/ChatGPT usage metrics show Gemini narrowing the gap, but competition remains intense — news flow comparing market share can pressure sentiment and prompt volatility. CNBC: ChatGPT vs Gemini

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 195,465 shares of company stock worth $57,056,497 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $314.64.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.9%

GOOG stock opened at $314.55 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $328.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $304.13 and its 200 day moving average is $247.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.28%.

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.