CSM Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

CSM Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 55.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,403 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 153,639 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $29,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ceeto Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC now owns 11,708 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,000 after acquiring an additional 3,188 shares during the period. Circle Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 80,072 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,969 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 50,738 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 22.1% during the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 1,346,148 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $327,249,000 after purchasing an additional 243,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 32.3% in the third quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 55,123 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,400,000 after purchasing an additional 13,456 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major competitor Meta has delayed a next‑generation AI release and reportedly discussed temporarily licensing Google’s Gemini model, which could help Alphabet expand usage/licensing of its AI stack and win incremental share. Meta delays release; may license Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company reaffirmed a “buy” on GOOGL and set a $400 price target (~32% upside from current levels), which can support investor confidence and buying interest. Needham reiterates buy
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlight Meta falling behind on large AI models (and considering licensing Google tech), reinforcing the view that Google could capture market share in foundational models and services. Meta falling behind — Yahoo
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Alphabet’s earnings growth and price strength as reasons to watch GOOGL, supporting a constructive fundamental view after recent results. Zacks: earnings growth & price strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Google, Amazon and Meta pushing their own AI chips signals a structural shift in AI infrastructure — a long‑term positive if Google’s stack wins, but it intensifies competition with incumbents like NVIDIA and may pressure margins/capex. AI chips competition — Yahoo
• Neutral Sentiment: Google sold a partial stake in its GFiber unit and partnered to form a new independent fiber provider; this reduces direct capital burden but also trims ownership of the broadband growth asset. GFiber stake sale — CNBC
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand/PR note: Google named its London HQ “Platform 37” referencing DeepMind/AlphaGo success — modestly positive for culture/AI branding but not material to near‑term financials. Platform 37 naming — Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulator and wider regulatory scrutiny on tech safety and child protection remain overhangs for Big Tech, including Alphabet, since new rules or enforcement could increase compliance costs or constrain certain services. UK regulator warning — Sky

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $302.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $319.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 9th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 2,076,615 shares of company stock valued at $107,809,111 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Profile

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.