Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Richard Bernstein Advisors cut its Alphabet stake by 51.2% in Q3, selling 42,335 shares and leaving 40,289 shares worth about $9.81 million (Alphabet is 0.3% of the firm's portfolio and its 28th largest holding).
• Alphabet beat expectations for the quarter (EPS $2.82 vs. $2.59 est.) and reported revenue of $113.83 billion, up 18% year‑over‑year.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently (2,112,493 shares sold in the past three months), yet analysts still carry a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $343.90; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share (0.3% yield).

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 51.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,289 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 42,335 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.3% of Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 145.0% during the third quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 196 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 100.0% in the second quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $306.01 on Tuesday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month 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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $343.90.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Technical/flow support: MarketBeat says GOOGL has confirmed a major support zone near ~$300 after a 12% pullback, with strong institutional inflows and analyst upgrades that make the recent dip look like a potential long-term entry. GOOGL Pullback Confirms Support, Setting Up a Potential New Entry
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial traction: Reuters/InsiderMonkey reports CVS Health will roll out an AI-enabled customer platform built on Google Cloud — a tangible enterprise win that should boost cloud consumption and revenue visibility. CVS Health To Roll Out AI-enabled Platform With Google Cloud
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic/partner signal: CNBC reports Mandiant founder Kevin Mandia raised $190M for a new AI-cybersecurity startup (Armadin), with some funding coming from the company that sold him to Google — a sign of continued ecosystem investment and Google’s ongoing ties to security/AI startups. Kevin Mandia raised $190 million for Armadin
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/coverage context: Market and media pieces (Zacks/Fool) are comparing Alphabet with peers (e.g., Nvidia) and reiterating Alphabet’s diversified revenue mix and long-term AI edge — useful framing but not new catalysts by itself. Nvidia vs. Alphabet: Which Stock Will Make You Richer?
• Negative Sentiment: Supply‑chain/cost risk: TipRanks flags that Nvidia’s high‑bandwidth memory buying spree has created global shortages that could raise costs or constrain Google’s AI hardware spend, a potential margin/headline risk for AI infrastructure. Nvidia’s Memory Shortage Could Cause Google Billions
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure: MarketBeat coverage of Microsoft’s aggressive dual‑model and Anthropic/OpenAI positioning underscores intensifying cloud/AI competition — a reminder Azure is a strong adversary for Google Cloud share gains. Microsoft Positioned to Win AI Race With Dual-Model Strategy
• Negative Sentiment: Governance/headline drag: Recent reports detail approval of a potential $692M CEO pay package tied to Waymo and insider sales by Alphabet’s CEO (~$9.86M sold) — items that can sap sentiment and were linked to small near‑term stock weakness. Alphabet offers CEO pay deal worth up to $692M Alphabet CEO Sells Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: Yahoo/Reuters coverage of Indonesia’s plan to ban high‑risk digital platforms for children under 16 could create regional regulatory pressure on core ad or platform features if similar rules spread. Indonesia Plans to Ban High-Risk Digital Platforms for Children

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total transaction of $33,934.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,418 shares in the company, valued at $5,580,469.82. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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