Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Holdings Raised by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 19.8% to 33,642 shares (worth $9.74M), and multiple other institutions also added to positions as hedge funds and institutional investors own about 40.03% of the stock.
• Corporate insiders have been net sellers recently: CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares (~$10.0M) and insiders sold a total of 191,053 shares worth ~$58.8M over the last 90 days, though insiders still hold about 11.61% of shares.
• Alphabet posted a strong Q1 beat (EPS $5.11 vs. $2.64 consensus; revenue $109.9B) with accelerating Google Cloud growth and backlog, prompting several analyst upgrades and higher targets — the consensus price target is about $402.96 (some firms as high as $450).

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 19.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,642 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,555 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.8% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,557,000 after buying an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,495,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,908,391. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,053 shares of company stock worth $58,845,206. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. New Street Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group set a $410.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $402.96.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $383.25 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.84 and a 1-year high of $387.38. The stock's 50-day moving average is $313.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $308.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $4.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is outgrowing AWS and Azure — Cloud revenue and backlog surged (Cloud growth ~63% in Q1; backlog nearly doubled), supporting higher long‑term revenue and margins for Alphabet. Alphabet's Google Cloud growth outpaces AWS and Azure
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and backlog surge: Alphabet reported stronger‑than‑expected EPS/revenue and a hefty cloud backlog, giving analysts room to lift targets and implying continued earnings momentum. Alphabet Inc. 2026 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets (JPMorgan reaffirmed buy; several firms raised targets, including a large bump from Citizens/JMP), which supports upside expectations and likely underpins buying interest. Google closes in on Nvidia. Why Alphabet stock remains JP Morgan’s top overall pick
• Positive Sentiment: Big long‑term optionality via Waymo and autonomous investments — sizable VC/strategic funding into Waymo reinforces Alphabet’s exposure to a potentially high‑value mobility business. Big money is betting the self-driving future belongs to a small club
• Positive Sentiment: Market narrative: Alphabet is highlighted among top AI investment ideas — positive attention that can attract flows into GOOGL as AI leadership becomes the investment theme. Here is Why Alphabet (GOOGL) Is Among the Most Promising AI Stocks to Invest In
• Neutral Sentiment: Chip demand tailwind but higher capex: Google’s planned ~$190B AI buildout boosts demand for semiconductors (positive for suppliers) but signals very large capex that could pressure free cash flow in the near term. 3 Semiconductor Stocks Poised to Gain as Google Eyes $190B AI Buildout
• Neutral Sentiment: Minor insider activity: a director sold about $38k of stock — small and routine, not a clear signal of management sentiment. Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL Director Sells $37,842.00 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Infrastructure headwind: Denmark paused new data‑center connections due to grid strain — a reminder of regulatory and power constraints that can slow data‑center expansion and raise costs for cloud scaling. Denmark faces data center reckoning as power grid overwhelmed by surging demand

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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