Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Transcend Capital Advisors LLC cut its Alphabet stake by 34.1% in Q4, selling 20,426 shares and ending the period with 39,490 shares worth $12.39 million (about 1.0% of its portfolio and its 17th largest holding).
• Alphabet reported a quarterly earnings beat (EPS $2.82 vs. $2.59) and revenue of $113.83 billion, up 18% year‑over‑year, while analysts remain largely bullish with an average "Buy" rating and a $346.03 average price target.
• There has been notable selling pressure: insiders sold roughly 2.04 million shares (~$94.2 million) last quarter (including an 8,993‑share sale by John Kent Walker), and shares recently traded down about 1.5% to $330.47.

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 34.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,490 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 20,426 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of Transcend Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $330,886,000 after purchasing an additional 806,681 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $346.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% 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, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total transaction of $33,934.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,580,469.82. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,037,294 shares of company stock valued at $94,216,897. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google embedded its Gemini AI features into Chrome for ~3.5 billion users, widening distribution of monetizable AI functionality and strengthening user engagement across the purchase journey. Google Embeds AI Into Chrome for 3.5 Billion Users
• Positive Sentiment: Vodafone will offer advanced cybersecurity and “agentic” AI services to small businesses via its strategic Google Cloud tie-up, expanding enterprise sales channels and recurring cloud revenue opportunities. Vodafone offers small businesses cybersecurity, AI capability with Google tie-up
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street bullishness ahead of Cloud Next: UBS and other analysts have raised price targets and called Alphabet a top pick, citing Google Cloud and AI momentum — a near-term positive for sentiment and positioning. UBS Raises Alphabet's Target to $375
• Positive Sentiment: Reports and coverage point to new inference-focused TPUs and Google’s push into custom AI silicon — if adopted at scale this could improve cloud margins and differentiate Google Cloud. Google to Release New AI Chips, Challenging Nvidia
• Neutral Sentiment: Talks that Google may work with Marvell on custom AI chips are circulating but disputed by some analysts; strategic supplier diversification would be positive long-term but details and timing remain unclear. Marvell falls back after reports on Google AI chip talks disputed by analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet holds a large SpaceX stake that could unlock significant non-core value if SpaceX IPOs — a potential valuation tailwind but not an immediate revenue driver. Alphabet’s SpaceX Stake Puts Fresh Focus On Non Core Value
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director John L. Hennessy disclosed a sale of 1,050 shares (mid-April); small on its own but contributes to near-term negative optics. Insider Selling: Alphabet Director Sells Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Large reported 13F moves (Cardano Risk Management shows a ~90% reduction in GOOG/GOOGL holdings per parsing) create selling noise — filings may contain parse errors but the headlines can pressure the stock. Fund Update: Cardano Risk Management B.V. Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Negative Sentiment: Some institutional trimming (e.g., Manitou reduced its Class A stake) adds incremental selling pressure though not large enough alone to change the long-term story. Manitou Investment Management Trims Alphabet Class A Stake

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $330.47 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.49 and a 1 year high of $350.15. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.13. The company's fifty day moving average is $306.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $303.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

About Alphabet

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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