Dodge & Cox Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Dodge & Cox modestly increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during Q3 to 11,338,777 shares (about $2.76 billion), making GOOGL its 26th-largest holding and roughly 1.5% of the firm's portfolio.
• Insiders have been net sellers: John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares for about $14.34 million, and insiders disposed of ~2,112,493 shares (~$118.6 million) over the last quarter, though corporate insiders still own 11.64% of the stock.
• Wall Street sentiment is positive — the consensus rating is "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $367.18, and several firms have issued buy/strong-buy calls (Needham set a $400 target, ~32% upside).

Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,338,777 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 63,559 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.5% of Dodge & Cox's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Dodge & Cox owned approximately 0.09% of Alphabet worth $2,756,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 9.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its position in Alphabet by 17.6% in the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,557,000 after acquiring an additional 48,805 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 13,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,798,832.60. This trade represents a 23.66% 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 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $355.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. DZ Bank reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $360.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $367.18.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

GOOGL opened at $302.28 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $349.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $319.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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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