Candriam S.C.A. Has $218.20 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Candriam S.C.A. cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 895,913 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 54,853 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.1% of Candriam S.C.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $218,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the third quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,565 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.1% during the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 34,608 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,429,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 33,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,042,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the period. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,603 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,852,000 after buying an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 6,408 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total transaction of $10,383,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,272,119 shares in the company, valued at $725,942,020.50. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,069,864 shares of company stock valued at $105,985,041. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $306.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $275.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 7.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Loop Capital upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $343.90.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s results and AI traction remain strong: Cloud revenue and enterprise backlog are accelerating and Gemini user metrics/support drive upside to long‑term monetization. Zacks: The Zacks Analyst Alphabet…
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo deployment of next‑gen robotaxis signals commercial progress for Alphabet’s autonomous‑vehicle unit, a longer‑term growth catalyst. CNBC: Waymo begins deploying next‑gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Some large asset managers are net buying while others trimmed positions — BNP Paribas added a multi‑million share position in GOOG, offsetting other institutional reductions. QuiverQuant: BNP Paribas fund update
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest figures in recent feeds show zero shares (likely a data anomaly), so shorting activity is not a clear driver today.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet completed a very large multi‑currency debt offering (including long‑dated tranches/century bond reports), which has spooked some investors worried about aggressive debt‑funded CapEx and the lack of customary bond protections. Reuters: Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails…
• Negative Sentiment: Management guided 2026 CapEx sharply higher (~$175–$185B), and the market has treated that as a near‑term cash‑flow/headwind risk despite its AI rationale — this contributed to post‑earnings weakness. Zacks: Alphabet drops 7% post Q4 earnings
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust scrutiny has resurfaced: regulators are probing Google’s search‑ads auction/pricing practices in Europe, introducing regulatory risk for ad monetization. Reuters: Google targeted by EU over search advertising auction practices
• Negative Sentiment: Notable institutional trimming reported in 13F updates (e.g., Neuberger, Swiss National Bank saw reductions), which can pressure intraday liquidity/psychology even as other funds add exposure. QuiverQuant: Neuberger Berman fund update

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.