Swiss National Bank Sells 813,700 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,162,400 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 813,700 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.0% of Swiss National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,449,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $32,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $40,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 145.0% during the third quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 196 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 100.0% during the second quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $348.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $300.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $343.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $298.30 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $320.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $287.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $350.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong AI thesis: multiple analyst and retail pieces argue Alphabet’s Google Gemini, search/ads integration, and cloud AI position make it a top long‑term AI play — supporting upside if execution continues. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional/strategic endorsements: coverage notes continued demand for Google Cloud and partnerships that underpin recurring revenue for AI and infrastructure. These narratives support analyst price targets and long‑term estimates. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish heavyweight backing persists: high‑profile investors (e.g., Bill Ackman) remain constructive on Alphabet even after trimming positions, signaling confidence in the company’s fundamentals. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst landscape: the street remains largely bullish with many buy/strong‑buy ratings and price targets above current levels — positive for sentiment but raises expectations that Alphabet must meet. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry ecosystem moves: Broadcom’s AI chip roadmap highlights multi‑year partnerships (including Google) that could lower hardware risk for large AI deployments — supportive but not an immediate revenue driver for Alphabet itself. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Governance/compensation shock: Alphabet approved a potential $692M pay package for CEO Sundar Pichai that is tied to Waymo/Wing targets — investors pushed back on the size and optics, prompting selling and concern about capital allocation to “Other Bets.” Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Sundar Pichai sold additional shares (~32,500) in recent filings — repeated insider sales are amplifying near‑term negative sentiment even if they follow pre‑set plans. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/rotation pressure: cyclical moves (oil spike and rotation out of mega‑cap tech) and technical selling are intensifying short‑term downside even as fundamentals remain intact. Read More.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock worth $118,605,094. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.