Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Holdings Reduced by Bright Rock Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Bright Rock Capital cut its stake in Alphabet by 19.2% in Q4, selling 25,000 shares and leaving it with 105,000 shares worth $32.865 million, which represents about 6.5% of the fund's holdings and is its largest position.
• Alphabet beat expectations for the quarter with EPS of $2.82 versus $2.57 and revenue of $113.83 billion versus $111.24 billion, and the company recently paid a $0.21 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.84, ~0.3% yield).
• Notable insider and institutional activity: insiders sold roughly 2.07 million shares (~$104.7 million) last quarter (including an 8,993-share sale by John Kent Walker), while hedge funds own about 40.0% of the stock and the consensus analyst rating is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $367.33.

Bright Rock Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 25,000 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 6.5% of Bright Rock Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $305.46 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $308.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $297.62. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $143.03 and a 12-month high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom signs a multi‑year deal to develop and supply Google’s next‑generation custom AI chips and data‑center components, reducing supply uncertainty for Google's AI racks and supporting cloud/AI margin leverage. Broadcom signs long-term deal to develop Google's custom AI chips (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded Broadcom/Google/Anthropic collaboration increases compute capacity commitments and validates strong demand for Google’s TPUs and rack infrastructure — a positive for Google Cloud positioning and unit economics. Broadcom agrees to expanded chip deals with Google, Anthropic (CNBC)
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic’s increased compute deal with Google and Broadcom underscores rising demand for Google‑hosted model capacity and could boost revenue from enterprise AI partnerships. Anthropic ups compute deal with Google and Broadcom (TechCrunch)
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Sundar Pichai says the AI shift creates more opportunities to invest in startups (SpaceX, Anthropic cited), signaling proactive capital deployment into strategic AI partners and potential long‑term ecosystem benefits. Pichai: AI shift opens opportunities to invest in startups (CNBC)
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo opens driverless rides to the public in Nashville, advancing commercial autonomy efforts and potential ride‑hailing revenue streams for Alphabet’s self‑driving unit. Waymo Opens Driverless Rides to the Public in Nashville (CNET)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary and trending coverage (Zacks, Citizens analyst update, market pieces) keep Alphabet on investors’ watchlists; these items support interest but don’t change fundamentals immediately. Alphabet lapping the market (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder pressure over data‑center water and power use highlights potential permitting delays, higher compliance costs and reputational risk for large buildouts. Investors press Amazon, Microsoft and Google on water, power use (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: A NYT analysis questions the accuracy and sourcing of Google's AI‑generated overviews, flagging reputational and regulatory risks that could affect ad quality and product trust. How Accurate Are Google's A.I. Overviews? (NYT)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale by Alphabet’s CAO was reported; size is modest but such filings can be viewed negatively in short term. Insider Selling: CAO Sells Stock (American Banking News)

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total value of $33,934.88. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,580,469.82. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,069,344 shares of company stock valued at $104,708,426. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $367.33.

Alphabet 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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