Violich Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 325,628 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 11.4% of Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $101,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co increased its holdings in Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. President Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $460.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective (up from $360.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $412.65.
Alphabet Price Performance
Shares of GOOGL opened at $388.88 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $341.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $323.00. The stock has a market cap of $4.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet
In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,187,638.65. The trade was a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.
More Alphabet News
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Google I/O 2026 showcased Alphabet’s expanding AI strategy, including new Gemini-powered models, upgraded search features, AI glasses, and ad products designed to monetize conversational search. This supports the case that Alphabet can defend and grow its core search business while creating new revenue streams. Google Flexes Its AI Muscles
- Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also unveiled a more ambitious AI lineup, which suggests it is trying to stay ahead in the AI race and deepen integration across search, cloud, and advertising. Investors may see this as a sign of stronger long-term monetization. Alphabet Just Unveiled Its Most Ambitious AI Lineup Yet
- Positive Sentiment: Google is rolling out AI-powered ad formats that could improve ad performance and increase advertiser spending, helping offset fears that AI search will hurt ad revenue. Google rolls out AI-powered ad formats at Marketing Live
- Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned $15 billion Missouri AI data hub underscores its willingness to invest heavily in infrastructure to support future AI and cloud demand, which can reinforce investor confidence in growth durability. How Google’s $15 Billion Missouri AI Data Hub Strategy Could Reshape Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Investor Narrative
- Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is pushing for judicial oversight in Canada’s online safety bill, trying to limit the risk of secret orders that could weaken encryption. This is more of a legal/regulatory issue than a direct earnings catalyst, but it keeps policy pressure on the stock. Apple, Google push for judicial oversight in Canada online safety bill
- Negative Sentiment: OpenAI’s ad efforts are being viewed as a potential threat to Google’s keyword-based search advertising model, raising investor concern that AI-native competitors could chip away at Alphabet’s core search franchise over time. OpenAI is building a new kind of ad machine. Early data suggests Google should worry.
- Negative Sentiment: A report that Waymo’s robotaxi service ended a ride early and directed a passenger to Uber or Lyft could add to worries about execution risks in Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle business, though this is a smaller issue for the stock than search or AI. A Waymo car ended a ride early, then the company told the passenger to get an Uber
- Negative Sentiment: Reports that DuckDuckGo installs are rising as users reject Google’s AI search experience suggest some user pushback against the company’s search changes, which could matter if it signals broader search-share risk. DuckDuckGo installs are up 30% as users reject being ‘force-fed’ Google’s AI Search
- Negative Sentiment: A reported EU antitrust fine against Google would reinforce regulatory overhang and could pressure sentiment if the penalty is confirmed. EU plans to fine Google high triple-digit million euro sum as part of antitrust investigation
About Alphabet
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.
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