Ervin Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Ervin Investment Management LLC cut its Alphabet stake by 93.4% in Q4, selling 29,994 shares and retaining 2,120 shares valued at $664,000, making GOOGL just 0.3% of its portfolio.
• Insiders and major shareholders sold heavily this quarter—Director John L. Hennessy and 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv were among sellers, with insiders liquidating 2,069,794 shares worth about $104.85 million in total.
• Analyst sentiment is bullish on AI/cloud momentum with multiple price-target raises (some up to ~$420) and a consensus Moderate Buy; Alphabet also beat Q4 EPS and revenue estimates and pays a $0.21 quarterly dividend (≈0.2% yield).

Ervin Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 93.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,120 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 29,994 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.3% of Ervin Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Ervin Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Members Trust Co grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth 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 period. White Wing Wealth Management grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,155 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,799 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, MRA Advisory Group grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 1,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,069,794 shares of company stock valued at $104,854,147. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $341.68 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $306.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $302.17. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.10 and a twelve month high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Arete Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $368.25.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DBS raised its price target on Alphabet to $400 and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling incremental analyst conviction and potential upside from AI and cloud growth. DBS Bank adjusts price target on Alphabet to $400 from $360; maintains buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst upgrade was reported today, supporting the stock’s rally by boosting short‑term investor sentiment. Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL Stock Price Up 1.3% on Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet secured a long‑term power supply deal for a large Indiana data center with NiSource, reducing energy supply uncertainty for Cloud/data‑center expansion. NiSource signs long-term power deal with Alphabet, expands Amazon agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum: Google is rolling out photo integration to Gemini (and Nano Banana), which strengthens consumer AI features and engagement pathways that can feed monetization. Google will let users connect their photos to the Gemini chatbot and Nano Banana
• Neutral Sentiment: Speculative models predict further upside into month‑end, but machine‑learning forecasts are noisy and should be treated as sentiment indicators rather than fundamentals. Machine learning algorithm predicts Google stock price on April 30, 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is reportedly in talks with the U.S. Department of Defense on deploying Gemini in classified settings — a potential revenue/strategic win but with contractual/clearing complexities. Google, Pentagon discuss classified AI deal, the Information reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets continue to flag Alphabet as a long‑term growth name given AI and cloud leadership; useful for conviction but already priced into the rally. Why Alphabet (GOOGL) is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: the European Commission has outlined measures under the DMA that would force Google to share search and AI chat data with rivals — this could pressure search advantage and ad economics in Europe. Google should allow third-party search engines access to data, EU says
• Negative Sentiment: Cost and margin risks: analysts warn that 2026 capex, higher depreciation and energy costs could squeeze margins and free cash flow even as revenue growth from AI/cloud accelerates. Alphabet Shares Rise 7% YTD: Buy, Sell, or Hold the GOOGL Stock?

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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