Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Decreased by Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Birch Hill Investment Advisors trimmed its Alphabet stake by 5.0% in Q4 and now owns 361,655 shares worth $113.2 million, representing 4.7% of the fund’s portfolio and its third-largest holding.
• Alphabet beat Q1 estimates (EPS $5.11 vs. $2.64; revenue $109.9B vs. $106.98B) and Google Cloud grew sharply (~63% with a doubled backlog), prompting multiple analyst price-target raises and a MarketBeat consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $402.96 target.
• Insiders sold a total of 191,053 shares worth about $58.8 million over the past 90 days (insiders still own 11.61%); the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 (annualized $0.88, ~0.2% yield).

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 361,655 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 19,079 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 4.7% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $113,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,269,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,016 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares during the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 3,573 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 17,571 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,500,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 191,053 shares of company stock worth $58,845,206 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Evercore upped their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $397.00 to $361.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $402.96.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $383.25 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $313.72 and its 200 day simple 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. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.84 and a 1 year high of $387.38. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a PEG 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

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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