Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is West Branch Capital LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• West Branch Capital increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% in Q4 to 91,809 shares (worth about $28.74M), making Alphabet its 3rd largest position and roughly 7.4% of the firm's portfolio.
• Market catalysts are largely positive: Google expanded AI/cloud partnerships (notably with Intel) and saw validation from Broadcom/Anthropic deals, while several analysts raised price targets supporting a consensus "Moderate Buy" and a $366.92 average target.
• There has been notable insider selling recently — CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares (~$10.0M) and insiders have sold about 2,069,344 shares (~$104.7M) in the past 90 days, though insiders still own roughly 11.64% of the company.

West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 91,809 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 7.4% of West Branch Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. West Branch Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Members Trust Co lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. White Wing Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,155 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,799 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,693,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delta Asset Management LLC TN lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 6,153 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,496,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stronger AI/cloud positioning: Google expanded its multi‑year AI infrastructure partnership with Intel to co‑develop processors and power Google Cloud AI workloads — a sign of durable demand for cloud AI capacity that supports Google Cloud revenue growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom and Anthropic deals validate Google’s AI infrastructure strategy and the broader market for non‑NVIDIA accelerators — a constructive signal for Alphabet’s AI cost and supply relationships. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and media bullishness on AI adoption: BNP Paribas and other commentators highlight Gemini and Anthropic as drivers that can take share in the generative AI market, underpinning ad/productivity monetization upside for Alphabet. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Monetization tailwind — YouTube raised U.S. Premium prices, which should boost ARPU and subscription revenue over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish price‑target action from Mizuho (raised to $420) reinforces upside thesis for investors focused on long‑term AI/cloud gains. (No link)
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest report is effectively meaningless/noisy for today’s move (data shows zero shares / reporting artifact), so it’s not the driver of the stock’s action. (No link)
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk for Waymo: A California bill would require more human operators for robotaxis, raising operating costs and regulatory uncertainty for Alphabet’s autonomous‑vehicle ambitions. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: International/content regulatory pressure: Indonesia issued a reprimand to YouTube over new social media rules for children, underscoring regional enforcement risk that can hit engagement or require costly compliance changes. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade pressure: Wolfe Research trimmed its price target from $390 to $360, which increases short‑term selling pressure despite the firm still rating the stock “outperform.” (No link)

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the sale, the director owned 4,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. This trade represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,069,344 shares of company stock worth $104,708,426 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. President Capital raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $323.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Alphabet from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $366.92.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $317.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.12. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.10 and a twelve month high of $349.00. The company's 50 day moving average is $306.85 and its 200 day moving average is $298.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The business 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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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