Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Country Trust Bank

Key Points

• Country Trust Bank trimmed its Alphabet stake by 0.9% in Q4, selling 3,551 shares and now holding 404,820 shares worth $127,033,000, which is about 2.3% of its portfolio and its 11th largest position.
• Alphabet beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $2.82 versus $2.59 and revenue of $113.83 billion (up 18% YoY); the stock trades near $315.73, has a $3.82 trillion market cap, and carries an average analyst price target of $345.71 with most ratings at "Buy."
• Insiders sold heavily recently—total insider sales amounted to 2,069,344 shares valued at $104.7 million over the last three months, including CEO Sundar Pichai's sale of 32,500 shares (~$10.6M) and a CAO sale of 955 shares.

Country Trust Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 404,820 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,551 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.3% of Country Trust Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Country Trust Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $127,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 145.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 196 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 218 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $315.73 on Monday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $306.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.28. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.40 and a 12-month high of $350.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $365.00 target price (up from $355.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $345.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total value of $10,637,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,211,872 shares in the company, valued at $723,945,705.60. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 2,069,344 shares of company stock valued at $104,708,426 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: YouTube is raising U.S. subscription prices while the subscriber base tops ~125M, supporting higher ARPU and recurring revenue for Alphabet. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Google and Intel expanded a multi-year AI infrastructure partnership, reducing execution risk for Google Cloud’s AI capacity buildout and lowering costs for large model workloads. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Top analysts and boutiques reinstated bullish views and flagged upside (one analyst sees 30%+ upside), reinforcing momentum narratives around Cloud and AI monetization. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Longer-term optionality — fractional exposure to a potential SpaceX IPO value and sustained Google Cloud growth — remains a tailwind for longer-horizon investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s board approved new long-term equity awards to executives — standard for tech firms but could be viewed as modest dilution; monitor details when full filings are available. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF news (Roundhill GOOGL WeeklyPay distribution) and various market write-ups keep Alphabet in focus but are unlikely to move the stock materially on their own. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped in March to ~44.0M shares (+26.8% vs. mid‑March), representing roughly 0.4% of float and a short‑interest ratio near 1.9 days — rising short activity can amplify downside on negative headlines. (Market data)
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal friction: Indonesia issued a reprimand over YouTube compliance and a California bill would add costs/constraints for Waymo’s robotaxi operations — both increase near‑term policy risk for ad and autonomous-vehicle initiatives. Article Title Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some institutional trimming (reported stake reductions) and notes flagging stretched valuation/multiple compression risk could pressure the shares despite solid fundamentals. Article Title Article Title

About Alphabet

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.