California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 515,206 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its Alphabet stake by 515,206 shares (a 3.5% reduction) during the quarter and now holds 14,080,453 shares—about 0.12% of Alphabet, valued at roughly $3.423 billion and constituting its 8th largest position.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive: MarketBeat shows an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $367.18, and several firms recently raised targets (e.g., Loop Capital, Deutsche Bank, Needham).
• Alphabet reported a quarterly beat (EPS $2.82 vs. $2.57 consensus; revenue $113.83B) and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 (ex-dividend March 9), while insiders have sold roughly 2,112,493 shares in the past 90 days, including a 1.845M-share block by 2017 Gp L.L.C.

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,080,453 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 515,206 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.0% of California Public Employees Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.12% of Alphabet worth $3,422,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 4,900 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $862,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY raised its holdings in Alphabet by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $85,557,000 after buying an additional 48,805 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. 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 report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $354.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $367.18.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major competitor Meta has delayed a next‑generation AI release and reportedly discussed temporarily licensing Google’s Gemini model, which could help Alphabet expand usage/licensing of its AI stack and win incremental share. Meta delays release; may license Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company reaffirmed a "buy" on GOOGL and set a $400 price target (~32% upside from current levels), which can support investor confidence and buying interest. Needham reiterates buy
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlight Meta falling behind on large AI models (and considering licensing Google tech), reinforcing the view that Google could capture market share in foundational models and services. Meta falling behind — Yahoo
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Alphabet's earnings growth and price strength as reasons to watch GOOGL, supporting a constructive fundamental view after recent results. Zacks: earnings growth & price strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Google, Amazon and Meta pushing their own AI chips signals a structural shift in AI infrastructure — a long‑term positive if Google’s stack wins, but it intensifies competition with incumbents like NVIDIA and may pressure margins/capex. AI chips competition — Yahoo
• Neutral Sentiment: Google sold a partial stake in its GFiber unit and partnered to form a new independent fiber provider; this reduces direct capital burden but also trims ownership of the broadband growth asset. GFiber stake sale — CNBC
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand/PR note: Google named its London HQ "Platform 37" referencing DeepMind/AlphaGo success — modestly positive for culture/AI branding but not material to near‑term financials. Platform 37 naming — Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulator and wider regulatory scrutiny on tech safety and child protection remain overhangs for Big Tech, including Alphabet, since new rules or enforcement could increase compliance costs or constrain certain services. UK regulator warning — Sky

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $302.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The company's 50 day moving average price is $319.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.81. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

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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