Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Has $327.25 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group increased its stake in Alphabet by 22.1% in Q3 to 1,346,148 shares worth $327.25 million, making GOOGL roughly 2.0% of the firm's portfolio and its 8th-largest holding.
• Competitive catalyst: Reports say Meta delayed a next‑generation AI release and is considering licensing Google's Gemini model, which could boost Alphabet's AI licensing opportunities and help it capture incremental market share.
• Analyst and financial snapshot: MarketBeat shows a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $367.18 average price target (including several buy/strong‑buy notes and Needham's $400 target); Alphabet also beat quarterly EPS ($2.82 vs. $2.57) and announced a $0.21 quarterly dividend (0.3% yield).

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,346,148 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 243,446 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.0% of Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $327,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $91,033,300,000 after buying an additional 6,733,278 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 141,615,284 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $24,857,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,224,497 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $21,944,208,000. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 28.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. China Renaissance upped their price objective on Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $354.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $367.18.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major competitor Meta has delayed a next‑generation AI release and reportedly discussed temporarily licensing Google’s Gemini model, which could help Alphabet expand usage/licensing of its AI stack and win incremental share. Meta delays release; may license Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company reaffirmed a "buy" on GOOGL and set a $400 price target (~32% upside from current levels), which can support investor confidence and buying interest. Needham reiterates buy
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlight Meta falling behind on large AI models (and considering licensing Google tech), reinforcing the view that Google could capture market share in foundational models and services. Meta falling behind — Yahoo
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Alphabet's earnings growth and price strength as reasons to watch GOOGL, supporting a constructive fundamental view after recent results. Zacks: earnings growth & price strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Google, Amazon and Meta pushing their own AI chips signals a structural shift in AI infrastructure — a long‑term positive if Google’s stack wins, but it intensifies competition with incumbents like NVIDIA and may pressure margins/capex. AI chips competition — Yahoo
• Neutral Sentiment: Google sold a partial stake in its GFiber unit and partnered to form a new independent fiber provider; this reduces direct capital burden but also trims ownership of the broadband growth asset. GFiber stake sale — CNBC
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand/PR note: Google named its London HQ "Platform 37" referencing DeepMind/AlphaGo success — modestly positive for culture/AI branding but not material to near‑term financials. Platform 37 naming — Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulator and wider regulatory scrutiny on tech safety and child protection remain overhangs for Big Tech, including Alphabet, since new rules or enforcement could increase compliance costs or constrain certain services. UK regulator warning — Sky

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $302.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $319.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total transaction of $184,038.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,624 shares in the company, valued at $6,325,999.52. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet 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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