Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s 10th Largest Position

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,134,414 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 151,721 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $763,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $305,101,000. Ovata Capital Management Ltd raised its stake in Alphabet by 158.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ovata Capital Management Ltd now owns 9,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,265,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% during the third quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 446,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $108,640,000 after purchasing an additional 5,280 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the third quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 557,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $135,718,000 after purchasing an additional 4,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ariadne Wealth Management LP boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the third quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP now owns 8,026 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind hires Jasjeet Sekhon from Bridgewater as chief strategy officer, strengthening DeepMind’s strategic and research bench at a time when top AI talent is a competitive advantage. Bridgewater’s chief scientist Sekhon to join Google’s DeepMind AI unit
• Positive Sentiment: Google rolled out a redesigned Stitch AI design tool that analysts/publications say can displace incumbents (Adobe, Figma), creating near-term competitive pressure on rivals and reinforcing Google’s product-led push into AI-powered developer/designer workflows. Adobe Stock Drops After Google’s Stitch Redesign
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Wiz acquisition (cloud security) and other cloud investments continue to beef up Google Cloud’s product stack, supporting revenue/corporate sales momentum versus AWS/Azure. GOOGL’s Wiz Buyout Expands Cloud Security Portfolio: What’s Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Google is expanding ties with the U.S. military and is well positioned to benefit after rivals stumble — a potential source of large, recurring cloud and services contracts. Google Sits Pretty as A.I. Rivals Compete for Pentagon Favor
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is in talks to buy liquid-cooling systems from Chinese vendors (Envicool and others) and may acquire a Chinese cooling firm — moves aimed at supporting energy-efficient AI data center scale. This reduces future supply/capacity constraints for AI workloads. Google in talks with China’s Envicool, others to buy data centre cooling systems, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Google told UK regulators it will let sites opt out of generative-AI features in search, a concession meant to ease competition concerns — reduces regulatory overhang but could limit product scope in the UK. Google to allow AI opt-out to ease UK competition concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet paid a small dividend on March 16 ($0.21/share) — a modest cash return that is unlikely to move the stock materially but supports shareholder yield narrative. Google stock just paid dividends; here’s how much investors received
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts flag valuation/near-term margin pressure — Alphabet’s elevated P/E and rising capex for AI/data centers keep some investors cautious despite strong growth. Is Alphabet Stock’s 25.55X PE Still Worth it? Buy, Sell, or Hold?
• Negative Sentiment: High executive compensation scrutiny after reports of Sundar Pichai’s large pay package could raise governance concerns for some investors. What Sundar Pichai’s $692 Million Pay Package Says About Alphabet’s Next Chapter

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total value of $184,038.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,325,999.52. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,109,115 shares of company stock valued at $117,815,536. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $345.71.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $306.30 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $318.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 7.77%.

Alphabet Company 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.