RAM Investment Partners LLC Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

RAM Investment Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,561 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,435 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.4% of RAM Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. RAM Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,625,595,000 after buying an additional 2,666,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,534,239,000. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,881,908 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,865,158,000 after buying an additional 774,336 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Dbs Bank lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, China Renaissance lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google is reportedly in talks with Samsung to manufacture part of its next-generation TPU chip, a sign it is deepening control over AI hardware supply and potentially improving long-term margins. Google in talks with Samsung to make next-generation chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo launched a $29.99 monthly premium subscription tier with perks like 10% cash back and free cancellations, showing Alphabet is working to turn autonomous driving into a recurring revenue business. Waymo launches a loyalty program with 10% cash back and free cancellations
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Erste Group Bank raised FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates for Alphabet, reinforcing confidence in the company’s profit outlook. Alphabet earnings estimate increases
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Alphabet as a long-term growth and AI beneficiary, with bullish commentary around cloud, Gemini, and the broader “agentic AI” opportunity. Alphabet: Now Is The Time To Raise Equity, Agentic AI Is Here (Rating Upgrade)
• Neutral Sentiment: Google said it identified an active Oracle PeopleSoft hacking campaign tied to ShinyHunters, which underscores cybersecurity concerns in the enterprise software ecosystem but is not a direct hit to Alphabet’s core business. Google says ShinyHunters hackers targeting education sector via Oracle exploit
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo also announced a national ad push and a broader effort to market its service, which may help growth but is too early to quantify. Waymo Readies First National Ads as Rivals and Critics Proliferate
• Negative Sentiment: A Google director resigned publicly over the company’s Pentagon-related AI work, adding reputational noise around governance and ethics. A Google director resigned over the company’s military deals
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also faced legal and product-related overhangs this week, including a denied retrial in the youth social media addiction case and reports of Gemini/Workspace service issues, which could weigh on sentiment. Update: Market Chatter: Google, Meta Platforms Denied New Trial in Youth Social Media Addiction Case by California Judge

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $357.77 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $359.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $330.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.00 and a 52 week high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.29, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 over the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet 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.