Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments trimmed its Alphabet stake by 10.4% in Q4, selling 250,892 shares and now holding 2,166,674 shares worth about $683.2 million (Alphabet is 1.1% of the fund and its 8th-largest position).
• Significant insider selling occurred recently: John Kent Walker sold ~8,993 shares (~$2.48M) and CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares (~$10.0M), with insiders selling 2,101,844 shares (~$115.1M) over the quarter while insiders still own about 12.99% of the company.
• Company outlook: Alphabet beat the quarter (EPS $2.82 vs. $2.59; revenue $113.8B) and is launching AI initiatives like Gemma 4 and new Gemini API pricing that could boost cloud/AI revenue, but it faces regulatory probes, a principal accounting officer departure, and concerns that heavy AI capex could pressure free cash flow.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,166,674 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 250,892 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.1% of Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $683,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avaii Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $993,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its position in Alphabet by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 1,093 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Searle & CO. increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 5,703 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,389,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,101,844 shares of company stock worth $115,147,751. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google rolled out Gemma 4, an open‑source AI model family that strengthens Google’s developer ecosystem and supports future cloud/AI revenue opportunities. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Google updated Gemini API pricing with “Flex” and “Priority” tiers to balance speed, cost and reliability — that could broaden usage, enable more price‑sensitive workloads, and boost API adoption/revenue. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Technical advances like TurboQuant (memory/compression for large models) can lower infrastructure costs for AI workloads and improve margins over time — a structural benefit to Google’s cloud/AI economics. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo and other analysts remain constructive (Overweight/Buy) but have trimmed price targets — signaling confidence in the long run while dialing back near‑term expectations. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market/ETF flows continue to amplify Alphabet’s moves (SPY/QQQ dynamics): macro risk‑on/off days can create outsized short‑term volatility for big caps. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Big Tech H‑1B filings have fallen, reflecting broader hiring freezes/reshuffling across the sector — not an Alphabet‑specific revenue issue but a labor/strategy signal. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Turkey’s competition authority opened an investigation into Google’s advertising and billing practices — regulatory probes risk fines, remedial costs and local ad‑revenue disruption. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s principal accounting officer, Amie Thuener O’Toole, is leaving (joining Broadcom as CFO) — departure of a senior finance leader creates some short‑term transition risk for controls and reporting. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Semianalysis warned heavy AI capex could push Google’s free cash flow toward zero next year — investors sensitive to FCF may penalize valuation if spending outpaces monetization. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling by senior executives (e.g., John Kent Walker) adds to near‑term negative sentiment, especially amid market sensitivity to insider activity. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader legal pressure on platforms (recent cases challenging Section 230 protections) raises regulatory and litigation risk for YouTube/Google content/ad products. Read More.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $294.46 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $350.15. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $309.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $296.60. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOG. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $345.71.

Alphabet 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.

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