Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec

Key Points

• Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec cut its Alphabet position by 20.9% in the second quarter, selling 1.39 million shares and retaining 5.27 million shares worth approximately $1.88 billion.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $420.19, despite one research firm downgrading the stock to “Hold.”
• Alphabet is accelerating AI infrastructure investments, including a planned $15 billion Finnish data-center expansion and a long-term nuclear-power agreement, though investors remain concerned about capital-spending pressure on free cash flow and potential competition from AI agents.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 20.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,269,086 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,388,113 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 2.7% of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,883,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $25,679,000 after buying an additional 2,269 shares during the period. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,902,000. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co grew its holdings in Alphabet by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 118,966 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,236,000 after buying an additional 17,415 shares during the period. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 66.1% during the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 22,877 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,161,000 after acquiring an additional 9,105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Pivotal Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 target price (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. New Street Research increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Arete Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $420.19.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google announced plans to invest at least €13 billion (about $15 billion) in AI infrastructure and data centers in Finland over the next two years. The investment should expand capacity for Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube while positioning Finland as a strategic, cooler-cost data-center hub. Google to invest $15 billion AI infrastructure in Finland
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet agreed to purchase a large share of a Finnish nuclear plant’s output through 2049. The long-term contract could make electricity costs more predictable and strengthen Google’s ability to power energy-intensive AI operations. Google nuclear power agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture and Google Cloud are creating a group with 1,000 engineers to help customers deploy AI agents. The arrangement could accelerate enterprise adoption of Google Cloud and support future cloud revenue growth. Accenture and Google AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive on Alphabet’s AI, cloud and quantum-computing exposure. Recent coverage also points to strong prior earnings and valuation support after the stock pulled back from its highs. Hyperscalers bet on AI and quantum
• Neutral Sentiment: Google introduced an easier Android password-manager migration process and agreed to buy one million rice-methane carbon credits from India’s Mitti Labs. These moves may support ecosystem engagement and sustainability goals but are unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Google Android password manager update
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavy AI infrastructure spending will pressure free cash flow and returns on invested capital, despite strong Google Cloud growth. Alphabet ROIC and AI capital spending
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s new paid AI agent, Muse, raised concerns that autonomous agents could bypass traditional search pages and reduce search advertising opportunities. Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest also reduced its Alphabet position while buying Meta shares, adding a negative sentiment signal. Meta Muse AI agent and Alphabet shares
• Negative Sentiment: Finnish opposition parties warned that Google’s expansion could strain local power supplies and raise energy prices, creating potential permitting and execution risks for the planned data-center buildout. Finland power-supply concerns

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $332.60 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $347.18 and a 200-day moving average of $343.69. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $235.84 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology and holding company founded in 2015 through a restructuring of Google. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and operates globally, serving consumers, businesses, advertisers and developers across numerous countries and regions.

Alphabet's largest business is Google Services, which includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and hardware products such as Pixel devices. These products support activities including internet search, digital content distribution, mobile computing, online communications and advertising.

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