Vanderbilt University Sells 10,849 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Vanderbilt University sold 10,849 shares of Alphabet, trimming its stake by 33.6% to 21,402 shares valued at about $6.7 million, making Alphabet roughly 1.1% of its portfolio and its 16th largest holding.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a $368.25 target, as several firms raised price targets (DBS to $400, Pivotal to $420) citing AI and cloud growth potential.
• Notable insider selling occurred this quarter — CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares and John Kent Walker sold 8,993, contributing to insider sales of about 2.07 million shares (~$105 million) while insiders still own 11.64% of the company.

Vanderbilt University cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 33.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,402 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 10,849 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Vanderbilt University's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Vanderbilt University's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Members Trust Co grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. White Wing Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, MRA Advisory Group grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Dbs Bank lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group set a $348.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Argus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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?

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% 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 2,069,794 shares of company stock valued at $104,854,147. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $341.68 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $306.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $301.77. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.12. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.10 and a 1-year high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.