86,275 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Purchased by Fernbridge Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Fernbridge Capital Management LP purchased a new stake of 86,275 shares of Alphabet in Q3 valued at about $20.97 million, representing roughly 1.0% of its portfolio and its 22nd largest holding.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently — including CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares and John Kent Walker selling 47,574 — with insiders offloading 2,112,493 shares worth $118.6 million over the last 90 days; insiders now own 11.64% of the stock.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $367.18, after several analysts raised their targets and maintained buy ratings.

Fernbridge Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 86,275 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $20,973,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.0% of Fernbridge Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $21,944,208,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 17,667.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,686,640,000 after purchasing an additional 15,159,273 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 28.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 51.7% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,607,232,000 after buying an additional 10,843,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Alphabet by 15.7% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,333,076,000 after buying an additional 6,874,381 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total transaction of $9,859,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,674,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $508,028,012.80. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock worth $118,605,094 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major competitor Meta has delayed a next‑generation AI release and reportedly discussed temporarily licensing Google’s Gemini model, which could help Alphabet expand usage/licensing of its AI stack and win incremental share. Meta delays release; may license Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company reaffirmed a "buy" on GOOGL and set a $400 price target (~32% upside from current levels), which can support investor confidence and buying interest. Needham reiterates buy
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlight Meta falling behind on large AI models (and considering licensing Google tech), reinforcing the view that Google could capture market share in foundational models and services. Meta falling behind — Yahoo
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Alphabet's earnings growth and price strength as reasons to watch GOOGL, supporting a constructive fundamental view after recent results. Zacks: earnings growth & price strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Google, Amazon and Meta pushing their own AI chips signals a structural shift in AI infrastructure — a long‑term positive if Google’s stack wins, but it intensifies competition with incumbents like NVIDIA and may pressure margins/capex. AI chips competition — Yahoo
• Neutral Sentiment: Google sold a partial stake in its GFiber unit and partnered to form a new independent fiber provider; this reduces direct capital burden but also trims ownership of the broadband growth asset. GFiber stake sale — CNBC
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand/PR note: Google named its London HQ "Platform 37" referencing DeepMind/AlphaGo success — modestly positive for culture/AI branding but not material to near‑term financials. Platform 37 naming — Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulator and wider regulatory scrutiny on tech safety and child protection remain overhangs for Big Tech, including Alphabet, since new rules or enforcement could increase compliance costs or constrain certain services. UK regulator warning — Sky

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $367.18.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $302.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $349.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $319.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

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.

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