PFG Investments LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• PFG Investments increased its stake in Alphabet by 6.4% in Q4 to 66,165 shares (worth $20.76M), making GOOG about 1.0% of PFG's portfolio and its 16th largest holding.
• Alphabet beat quarterly estimates, reporting $2.82 EPS vs. $2.59 and $113.8B revenue (up 18% year‑over‑year), while analysts overall rate the stock a Buy with an average target near $347.
• Positive catalysts — including Google’s new 8th‑gen TPUs, large Google Cloud deals and upbeat analyst notes — contrast with risks from EU regulatory pressure and notable insider selling that could pressure near‑term sentiment.

PFG Investments LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,165 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,964 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.0% of PFG Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. PFG Investments LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Alphabet by 8.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $678,198,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $455,745,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,749,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Alphabet by 208.0% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,130,681 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $273,026,000 after acquiring an additional 2,177,855 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled 8th‑gen TPUs (separate training and inference chips) designed to cut AI costs and compete with Nvidia — a clear catalyst for higher cloud margins and faster AI deployments. Google Cloud launches two new AI chips to compete with Nvidia
• Positive Sentiment: Street bullishness: BMO raised its price target and called Alphabet “the best way to own AI,” while Bank of America reiterated a Buy and expects a modest Q1 beat — analyst support lifts sentiment into earnings. BMO raises Alphabet's target Bank of America reiterates Buy ahead of Q1
• Positive Sentiment: Multi‑billion enterprise deals and partnerships (Thinking Machines Lab, Merck, Capgemini, Ulta) signal meaningful Google Cloud/Gemini revenue paths and long‑term adoption of agentic AI in enterprise accounts. Thinking Machines multi‑billion deal Merck partners with Google Cloud
• Positive Sentiment: Product and platform pushes (Gemini agent platform, Workspace AI, Chrome AI integrations) make monetization of agentic AI more credible across ads, cloud and enterprise SaaS. Google updates Workspace
• Neutral Sentiment: Long‑term institutional backing — Buffett’s Berkshire added Alphabet in 2025 and that holding has appreciated — reinforces conviction but has limited immediate price impact versus near‑term earnings/AI execution. Warren Buffett’s investment in Alphabet
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators are preparing to press Google to open Android to rival AI assistants, creating potential distribution and competitive risks for Gemini/Android integration in Europe. EU pressure to give AI rivals Android access
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and some fund stake trims have been reported recently, which can weigh on near‑term price psychology even as management and institutions continue to hold large positions. Alphabet trading down after insider selling Fund trims Alphabet stake

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Truist Financial set a $385.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $348.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $347.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,580,469.82. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 2,037,294 shares of company stock worth $94,216,897 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $337.75 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $307.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $303.99. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.13. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.49 and a 52-week high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.57 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

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