Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 9,573 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Posted by Geri Gentry on Sep 10th, 2026

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Free Report) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 198,282 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,573 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 5.2% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $70,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Timbuktu Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, July 17th. KeyCorp set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alphabet

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.71, for a total value of $27,692.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,414,801.45. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

Positive Sentiment: Alphabet announced at least €13 billion (about $15.1 billion) for AI data centers and digital infrastructure in Finland during 2027–2028. The investment will support Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube, while a 22-year agreement with Fortum for nuclear power could provide reliable, lower-carbon electricity for energy-intensive AI operations. Google to invest $15 billion AI infrastructure in Finland
Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud and Accenture are creating a group of 1,000 engineers to help customers deploy AI agents. The initiative may accelerate enterprise adoption of Google’s cloud, AI software and custom chips, strengthening the growth outlook for the Cloud segment. Accenture and Google are teaming up to send 1,000 engineers into the field
Positive Sentiment: Bank of America and other commentary pointed to resilient web traffic despite rising AI competition, offering reassurance that Google’s core search business has not yet been materially displaced. Bank of America Spots Reassuring Signal for Google Stock
Neutral Sentiment: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Anthropic joined a Canadian data-center development pledge. The agreement supports broader AI infrastructure expansion, although it does not immediately change Alphabet’s earnings outlook. HIVE joins Google, Microsoft and Amazon in new Canada data center pledge
Negative Sentiment: The Finland commitment reinforces concerns that surging AI capital expenditures could pressure free cash flow before revenue and profits fully scale. Investors are increasingly focused on whether Alphabet can earn attractive returns on its massive infrastructure buildout. Alphabet’s ROIC Is Strong, but Is GOOGL Stock a Buy Now?
Negative Sentiment: Alphabet warned that changes to European search results required by the Digital Markets Act could reduce search quality and increase costs for businesses, creating potential pressure on user engagement, monetization and regulatory expenses. Google warns of lower quality as it revamps Europe search results
Negative Sentiment: Meta’s launch of its paid Muse AI agent heightened fears that autonomous assistants could bypass traditional search pages and weaken Alphabet’s search advertising model. Separately, delays affecting Alphabet and Blackstone’s Project Braid data-center venture underscore execution risks in the AI expansion. Meta rises as Muse AI agent arrives

Alphabet Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $328.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $236.58 and a one year high of $404.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $345.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $341.58.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Alphabet Profile

(Free Report)

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. It was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring intended to separate Google’s core internet businesses from a collection of other ventures. Google remains Alphabet’s largest business and serves users, advertisers, businesses and developers worldwide.

Google’s principal products and services include its internet search engine, online advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.