Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $65,321,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,625,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,971,769,000 after purchasing an additional 539,679 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Sarl boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the third quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 471,428 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $114,816,000 after purchasing an additional 20,254 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the third quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 213,920 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,670 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA increased its stake in Alphabet by 10.3% in the third quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 855,178 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $208,279,000 after purchasing an additional 79,567 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

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

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $306.93 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $319.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.87. 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 P/E ratio of 28.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, January 5th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Nine 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $343.90.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,244,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,914,730.12. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,798,832.60. This represents a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 2,112,493 shares of company stock worth $118,605,094 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.