Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Holdings Cut by Veritas Asset Management LLP

Veritas Asset Management LLP lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 51.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,284,192 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,463,351 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 5.9% of Veritas Asset Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Veritas Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $555,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

GOOGL opened at $305.72 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.09. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $349.00. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $321.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.51.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and AI/cloud growth — Alphabet exceeded EPS and revenue expectations, Cloud revenue jumped ~48% and backlog expanded materially, supporting longer-term revenue and monetization from AI products. Alphabet’s Pullback: A Second Chance for Long-Term Investors?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism — Several firms raised price targets on GOOGL (noted lifts to $375 and $380), reflecting continued confidence in growth and upside vs. the recent pullback. Price Target Raised to $375 Price Target Raised to $380
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expansion — Waymo is deploying next‑gen Ojai robotaxis and using gig workers for door-closing operations, signaling commercial progress in autonomous mobility (long-term revenue optionality). Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong bond demand—but guardrails questioned — Alphabet’s recent global bond sale drew very strong demand (underscoring investor confidence), while commentary noted limited contractual protections for bondholders on a long‑dated issuance. This is liquidity/market-confidence positive but raises structural concerns for fixed‑income holders. Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails highlights investor confidence
• Neutral Sentiment: Century‑bond debate — Heavy demand for a 100‑year sterling bond signals long-duration appetite (positive for funding flexibility) but prompts caution about untested long‑dated issuance. Why Alphabet’s 100-year sterling bond is raising new fears Bond investors are betting on another 100 years of Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears unreliable — Reports show sudden increases but list zero shares and NaN changes (likely a data glitch); not a confirmed signal of rising short pressure. (internal short‑interest entries)
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust probe into search ad auctions — European regulators are investigating Google’s ad-auction practices and pricing, which could lead to fines, operational constraints in Europe, or forced changes to ad platform mechanics. Google targeted by EU over its search advertising auction practices Google hit by fresh EU antitrust probe
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and AI arms‑race fears — Alphabet’s large 2026 CapEx outlook (~$175–185B) and the broader AI infrastructure spend among hyperscalers have raised investor concern about free‑cash‑flow strain and near‑term margin/return pressures; that theme contributed to short‑term selling after earnings. Alphabet Drops 7% Post Q4 Earnings Mag 7 AI Arms Race: Heavy CapEx, FCF Strain
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness — Coverage notes that several mega‑cap tech names have softened (Magnificent Seven pressure), which amplifies selloffs in high‑multiple names like GOOGL even when fundamentals remain strong. Amazon Joins Microsoft in Bear Market

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total transaction of $10,893,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,179,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,481,906.96. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,064,308 shares of company stock worth $104,383,469 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.64.

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.