Google stock in focus as Russell investments cuts Alphabet stake by 2.5% but still holds $1.38 billion

Russell Investments Group Ltd. offloaded 147,905 shares from its stake in Alphabet INC.—Google’s parent company—which took its position down by 2.5 percent. The move by the investment firm came in the third quarter, with the total shares owned by Russell Investments Group Ltd in Alphabet now down to 5,692,896. The value of those shares was about $1.386 billion at the end of the reporting period. Alphabet stock makes up about 1.6% of Russell Investments’ total investment portfolio, as stated by MarketBeat.

Other investors also changed their Alphabet holdings

Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors slightly increased its Alphabet stake by 1.8%. The firm bought 36 more shares during the third quarter. After the purchase, Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors owned 2,070 shares worth about $504,000. Searle & Co. also increased its Alphabet stake by 0.6%. The firm purchased 36 additional shares during the quarter.


Searle & Co. now holds 5,703 shares valued at about $1.389 million. Navellier & Associates also raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.6%. The firm bought 36 additional shares during the period. Navellier & Associates now owns 5,846 shares worth about $1.424 million. BankPlus Wealth Management increased its holdings by 1.2%. The firm added 37 more shares during the quarter.

BankPlus now holds 3,143 Alphabet shares valued at about $766,000. Activest Wealth Management also slightly increased its stake by 0.5%. The firm bought 38 additional shares. Activest Wealth Management now owns 7,997 shares worth about $1.948 million. Overall, hedge funds and institutional investors own about 27.26% of Alphabet’s total stock.

Google stock price performance

Alphabet shares opened at $298.30 on Monday. The company’s 50-day average stock price is about $320.28. The 200-day average price is around $287.43. Alphabet currently has a market value of about $3.61 trillion. The company’s price-to-earnings ratio is about 27.59. Alphabet’s price-to-earnings growth ratio stands at 1.75.

The stock’s beta is 1.10, meaning it moves a bit more than the overall market. Alphabet’s stock hit a 12-month low of $142.66. The stock also reached a 12-month high of $350.15. The company’s current ratio and quick ratio are both 2.01. Alphabet’s debt-to-equity ratio is low at 0.11.

Alphabet’s latest earnings

Alphabet released its quarterly earnings results on February 5. The company reported earnings of $2.82 per share for the quarter. This was higher than the analyst estimate of $2.59 per share. Alphabet’s net profit margin was 32.81%. The company’s return on equity was about 35.01%.

Alphabet reported total quarterly revenue of $113.83 billion. Analysts had expected about $111.24 billion in revenue. In the same quarter last year, Alphabet earned $2.15 per share. The company’s revenue increased by about 18% compared to last year. Analysts expect Alphabet to report about $8.89 earnings per share for the full year.

Alphabet dividend

Alphabet also announced a quarterly dividend for investors. The dividend payment will be made on March 16. Investors who owned shares by March 9 will receive the payment. The dividend amount is $0.21 per share for the quarter. That equals about $0.84 per share annually. The dividend yield is about 0.3%, as stated by MarketBeat. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is about 7.77%.

Positive news around Google

Google Cloud is seeing strong demand from big companies. CVS Health is using Google Cloud for its AI platform. Meta has reportedly leased Google’s TPU chips for AI computing. These deals could help Google earn more recurring cloud revenue.

Strong fourth-quarter results also boosted confidence among analysts. Bank of America kept a “Buy” rating on Alphabet and set a $370 price target.

Neutral developments

Google said Anthropic services are still available for non-defense uses. This clarification helped reduce concerns about service disruption. However, uncertainty still remains around defense-related contracts. Analysts also say Alphabet’s stock story has shifted from “value” to “AI growth.” This means investors now expect strong execution and growth from the company.

Negative risks around Google

Reports say large data centers owned by tech companies could become military targets during the Iran conflict. This raises potential security and operational risks for cloud infrastructure. Alphabet also faces regulatory and legal issues. A settlement with Epic Games may lower Play Store commission fees.

There is also a wrongful-death lawsuit linked to the Gemini AI product. Safety scrutiny around Waymo self-driving cars is another concern. Some technical analysts also believe the stock may face short-term selling pressure.

Analysts’ price targets

DA Davidson set a $300 price target for Alphabet shares. JPMorgan increased its target from $385 to $395 and kept an “overweight” rating. UBS kept a “neutral” rating and raised its target to $348. BMO Capital Markets kept an “outperform” rating with a $400 target.

Loop Capital upgraded Alphabet from “hold” to “strong buy.” Overall, analysts on average rate Alphabet stock as a “Buy.” The average analyst price target is about $343.90.

Insider stock sales

Alphabet insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares on February 17. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45. The total sale value was about $14.34 million. After the sale, Walker owned 13,227 shares worth about $3.99 million. The sale reduced his holdings by about 78.25%.

Alphabet Chief Accounting Officer Amie Thuener O’Toole also sold shares. She sold 2,778 shares at an average price of $312.30. The total value of that sale was about $867,569. After the transaction, she owned about 8,962 shares worth around $2.8 million. This reduced her stake by about 23.66%.

In the last 90 days, insiders sold about 2,112,493 Alphabet shares. Those sales were worth about $118.6 million in total. Company insiders collectively own about 12.99% of Alphabet stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. is the parent company of Google and several other businesses. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Alphabet was created in 2015 after Google reorganized its corporate structure. Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Today, Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai. The company mainly earns money from internet search and advertising services like Google Ads and AdSense.

FAQs

Q1. Why did Russell Investments reduce its Alphabet stock holdings?

Russell Investments slightly reduced its Alphabet shares as part of portfolio adjustments during the third quarter, according to its SEC filing.

Q2. How did Alphabet perform in its latest earnings report?

Alphabet reported strong results, beating analyst expectations with higher earnings per share and strong revenue growth.