Avity Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Avity Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,022 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,842 shares during the quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $416,217,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,277,000 after purchasing an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,241 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.7% in the second quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 1,457,732 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,896,000 after purchasing an additional 65,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 21.2% in the third quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,171,000 after purchasing an additional 8,746 shares during 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: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $397, citing growing opportunities to monetize Google Cloud — a direct positive for revenue growth and valuation expectations. Wells Fargo raises PT
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reiterated a Buy with a $400 target, reinforcing buy-side analyst conviction and supporting upside narratives for the stock. Needham reiterates Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Veo 3.1 Lite — a lower‑cost AI video model — which should accelerate adoption of Google’s video AI tools and expand addressable market for cloud AI services. Google unveils cheaper AI video model
• Positive Sentiment: Bloomberg/press reports that Google plans a screenless Fitbit band later this year — a small but positive product diversification play that could help hardware revenue and ecosystem engagement. Google readies screenless Fitbit
• Positive Sentiment: Several outlets highlight recent analyst upgrades and buy-side interest (including a MarketBeat feature listing Alphabet among core AI/cloud plays), reinforcing momentum into mega‑caps when market breadth favors growth. MarketBeat AI cloud list
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and Benzinga pieces note Alphabet outpaced the market and benefited from broad sector strength — helpful context but not a company-specific fundamental change. Zacks: Outpaced market
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet issued long‑dated debt (including a 100‑year tranche), a signal of financing flexibility and confidence in cash flows; bond activity is generally neutral for near‑term equity moves but relevant for capital structure. Alphabet taps debt markets
• Negative Sentiment: Billionaire Ray Dalio trimmed his Alphabet stake — a headline that can stoke short‑term selling or be read as portfolio rebalancing by large holders. Dalio reduces position
• Negative Sentiment: Child development experts petitioned Google to block AI‑generated videos aimed at kids and Indonesia summoned Google over child social‑media rules — regulatory and content‑risk headlines that could pressure YouTube monetization and increase moderation costs. Experts urge Google on AI videos Indonesia summons Google

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,955,564. This trade 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, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,092,234 shares of company stock worth $112,487,971. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $297.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.51, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.12. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $349.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $310.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.06.

About Alphabet

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.