JCIC Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 93,970 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,886,000. Alphabet makes up 7.2% of JCIC Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,927,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,182,111 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,511,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428,266 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,022,926,000 after purchasing an additional 441,177 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 35,357,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,272,146,000 after buying an additional 2,117,990 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,503,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,588,323,000 after buying an additional 695,736 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major analyst upgrade and higher price targets highlight AI-driven upside — Raymond James raised GOOG to “Strong Buy” and boosted its price target (street chatter also shows multiple firms lifting targets), supporting investor confidence in Alphabet’s AI strategy and Google Cloud momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Big investors adding shares — Baillie Gifford disclosed adding ~1.19M GOOGL shares in the latest 13F filing, a sign of continued institutional accumulation that can underpin price support. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Strong AI ecosystem wins — Apple reportedly will use Google’s Gemini to power the next Siri, expanding Gemini’s distribution and reinforcing Alphabet’s AI moat and monetization pathways. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage remains focused on AI and technicals — Several outlets and analysts are publishing bullish previews and technical trading ideas (including MarketBeat, Zacks, TipRanks), which keeps interest high but doesn’t guarantee near-term moves. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo expansion vs. scrutiny — Waymo launched robotaxis in Miami (expansion signal), which can drive future growth for Alphabet’s autonomy segment but also raises operational/legal exposure as deployment scales. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: NTSB opens probe into Waymo after robotaxis passed stopped school buses — A federal safety investigation into repeated illegal passes in Austin (reported incidents across states) creates regulatory and reputational risk for Waymo and, by extension, Alphabet. That headline is the clearest near-term negative catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Antitrust litigation risk persists — A federal judge allowed a consumer antitrust lawsuit over Google Search to proceed, keeping legal exposure and potential remedies on the radar for investors assessing longer-term regulatory risk. Article Title

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total transaction of $202,512.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,224 shares in the company, valued at $7,163,524.48. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 225,187 shares of company stock worth $69,365,318. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $328.55 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $316.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $261.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $341.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 8.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $326.13.

About Alphabet

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.