Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Holdings Reduced by Covea Finance

Key Points

• Covea Finance trimmed its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% in Q4 to 460,803 shares (about 4.8% of its portfolio), leaving its Alphabet holdings valued at roughly $144.23 million and making the stock its third-largest position.
• Recent catalysts include billionaire Seth Klarman taking a notable position and Alphabet-owned Wing beginning drone deliveries in the San Francisco Bay Area, while headwinds include EU regulatory scrutiny and Google executives' warnings about rising AI-related energy and infrastructure costs.
• Insiders have sold heavily (about 2.11 million shares worth ~$118.13 million in the last 90 days, with insiders owning 11.55%), yet analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with a $367.18 average price target after Alphabet beat quarterly EPS estimates.

Covea Finance reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 460,803 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,900 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.8% of Covea Finance's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Covea Finance's holdings in Alphabet were worth $144,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 324 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Billionaire investor Seth Klarman surprised markets by taking a notable position in Alphabet, a development investors often view as a vote of confidence from an experienced value manager. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Billionaire Seth Klarman Springs Major Surprise
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet-owned Wing will begin drone package deliveries in the San Francisco Bay Area, marking a commercialization step for a long-term growth initiative that could expand service offerings and monetization opportunities. Alphabet's Wing to start drone delivery in San Francisco Bay Area
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple bullish research and feature pieces are reinforcing long-term investor interest—highlighting YouTube’s large ad/membership upside and positioning Alphabet as a top AI/cloud compounder—supporting demand for shares from long-term funds and retail. Alphabet Stock Analysis Why YouTube Is A $490 Billion Powerhouse Why Alphabet (GOOGL) is a Top Stock for the Long-Term The Best Stocks to Invest $1,000 in Right Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s president Ruth Porat warned the U.S. may not be building electricity capacity fast enough to support AI scale, underscoring infrastructure needs and potential higher capex/energy costs as AI data center demand grows—a long-term growth sign but with cost implications. CERAWEEK US needs more energy development to power AI, Google president says
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting Berkshire’s new leadership holding large AI-related positions and bullish forecasts for AI leaders reiterates sector rotation into tech, which can support multiple expansion for market leaders like Alphabet. Warren Buffett's Successor, Greg Abel, Has $64 Billion of Berkshire Hathaway's Assets Invested in 3 Unstoppable AI Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data for March appears anomalous/unclear (reported as zero), so it provides no reliable signal on forced selling or short-covering dynamics today.
• Negative Sentiment: EU competition and international regulatory scrutiny remains active—EU officials are meeting with Google executives this week, a reminder that sustained regulatory risk could pressure valuation or lead to fines/behavioral remedies. EU Competition Chief Says Google Decision is Coming, Ahead of U.S. Tech Meetings
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage on how AI is changing search/SEO highlights execution risk for legacy search monetization models—publishers and advertisers adapting to new AI-driven discovery could alter ad dynamics over time. AI Is Rewriting the Old Rules of Google Search and SEO

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock valued at $118,134,117. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $302.00 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $317.03 and a 200 day moving average of $294.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $349.00.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $355.00 price target on the stock. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $367.18.

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.

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