Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Position Boosted by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 653,242 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,682 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $159,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Searle & CO. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 5,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 5,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the third quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 7,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google has integrated Gemini AI into Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive and unveiled the new Gemini Embedding 2 model — this expands monetizable AI features across Workspace and improves developer tools for embeddings, supporting cloud and ads monetization prospects. Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock Rises as Gemini AI Powers Workspace Automation
• Positive Sentiment: French broadcaster Canal+ signed a multi‑year deal to use Google Cloud AI for production and recommendations — a tangible enterprise cloud win that validates Google Cloud’s generative AI pitch and should support recurring revenue. Canal+ taps Google’s AI for video production, content recommendation
• Positive Sentiment: The Pentagon rollout (Agent Designer on GenAI.mil) and reports that Gemini agents will be used across millions of defense personnel reinforce large-scale government adoption of Google’s AI tools, a material credibility and revenue catalyst for enterprise AI. Google deepens Pentagon AI push after Anthropic sues Trump administration
• Positive Sentiment: Market and analyst commentary view Alphabet’s pullback as a potential buying opportunity; several firms raised targets and institutional inflows remain strong, supporting upside if technical levels hold. Alphabet’s Pullback May Be Opening a New Entry Point
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded commercial partnerships (e.g., Waystar/CVS-related Google Cloud deployments) illustrate incremental enterprise traction beyond advertising, diversifying future revenue drivers. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Announced Expanded Partnership Between Waystar and Google Cloud
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI plans to integrate Sora video AI into ChatGPT, intensifying product competition in generative AI — a strategic risk but not an immediate revenue hit for Alphabet. OpenAI Bets on Sora Video AI — Will ChatGPT Finally Rival Google Gemini?
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is reported as an investor in SoftBank’s PayPay IPO — a non-core financial exposure with limited near-term impact on Google’s operating results. SoftBank’s PayPay plans to price US IPO around low end of range, sources say
• Negative Sentiment: Nvidia’s HBM memory shortage could push up AI infrastructure costs for large model training and inference, pressuring margins for cloud providers and large AI consumers including Google Cloud. Nvidia’s (NVDA) Memory Shortage Could Cause Google (GOOGL) Billions
• Negative Sentiment: Industry moves to pass digital service taxes to advertisers (Meta following Google) suggest margin pressure or revenue mix impacts in certain markets and regulatory scrutiny that could dent ad growth in Europe. Meta to charge advertisers a fee to offset Europe’s digital taxes

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $306.93 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $350.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $319.96 and a 200-day moving average of $288.87.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.