Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 406,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.7% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $98,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% in the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 121.3% during the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,337,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total transaction of $800,786.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 11,739 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,884.14. This represents a 19.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 227,365 shares of company stock valued at $67,350,070. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $332.73 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $334.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $307.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.81, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple chooses Google’s Gemini to power the next generation of Siri and Apple Foundation Models — a multi‑year licensing/cloud deal that validates Gemini at scale and gives Alphabet a high‑margin, recurring revenue channel and access to Apple’s huge device base. Google and Apple enter into multi-year AI deal for Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: AI optimism pushed Alphabet into the ~$4 trillion market‑cap club — headlines and analyst commentary frame Google as a potential long‑term AI winner (Gemini, Cloud, TPUs), which fuels momentum buying and multiple expansion. Alphabet hits $4 trillion valuation as AI refocus lifts sentiment
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies and other sell‑side notes highlight Alphabet’s data moat and Cloud/AI growth as durable upside drivers — supportive research helps underpin longer‑term buy interest despite a rich near‑term multiple. Jefferies Sees Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Data Moat and Cloud Growth Driving Long-Term Upside
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts are tempering enthusiasm by lowering conviction or trimming ratings (e.g., downgrades from “Strong Buy” to “Buy”) citing stretched forward multiples — this signals limited near‑term upside even as fundamentals stay strong. Alphabet: Reviewing My 2025 Top Pick, Downgrade To Buy On Less Attractive Setup
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional portfolio moves show some trimming of GOOGL positions in recent 13F updates (e.g., Davenport & Co and E. Ohman filings flagged reductions), which could modestly weigh supply/demand dynamics if continued. Fund Update: DAVENPORT & Co LLC Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider selling activity (including CEO sales disclosed in filings) is being tracked by markets and can add short‑term selling pressure or concern about timing of stock sales. Alphabet (GOOGL) Delivered Solid Performance in the Quarter
• Negative Sentiment: High‑profile criticism (Elon Musk calling the deal an “unreasonable concentration of power”) creates headline risk and could attract regulatory scrutiny or political attention over big‑tech partnerships — a reputational/regulatory risk to monitor. Elon Musk Slams Google, Apple Deal: ‘Unreasonable Concentration Of Power’

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Raymond James Financial set a $275.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $318.18.

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.