Maple Capital Management Inc. Has $108.64 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Maple Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 446,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,280 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 7.1% of Maple Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $108,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 557,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $135,718,000 after acquiring an additional 4,430 shares in the last quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP now owns 8,026 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.3% in the third quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.6% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 96,551 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maven Securities LTD increased its position in Alphabet by 3.4% in the third quarter. Maven Securities LTD now owns 31,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,731,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind hires Jasjeet Sekhon from Bridgewater as chief strategy officer, strengthening DeepMind’s strategic and research bench at a time when top AI talent is a competitive advantage. Bridgewater’s chief scientist Sekhon to join Google’s DeepMind AI unit
• Positive Sentiment: Google rolled out a redesigned Stitch AI design tool that analysts/publications say can displace incumbents (Adobe, Figma), creating near-term competitive pressure on rivals and reinforcing Google’s product-led push into AI-powered developer/designer workflows. Adobe Stock Drops After Google’s Stitch Redesign
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Wiz acquisition (cloud security) and other cloud investments continue to beef up Google Cloud’s product stack, supporting revenue/corporate sales momentum versus AWS/Azure. GOOGL’s Wiz Buyout Expands Cloud Security Portfolio: What’s Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Google is expanding ties with the U.S. military and is well positioned to benefit after rivals stumble — a potential source of large, recurring cloud and services contracts. Google Sits Pretty as A.I. Rivals Compete for Pentagon Favor
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is in talks to buy liquid-cooling systems from Chinese vendors (Envicool and others) and may acquire a Chinese cooling firm — moves aimed at supporting energy-efficient AI data center scale. This reduces future supply/capacity constraints for AI workloads. Google in talks with China’s Envicool, others to buy data centre cooling systems, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Google told UK regulators it will let sites opt out of generative-AI features in search, a concession meant to ease competition concerns — reduces regulatory overhang but could limit product scope in the UK. Google to allow AI opt-out to ease UK competition concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet paid a small dividend on March 16 ($0.21/share) — a modest cash return that is unlikely to move the stock materially but supports shareholder yield narrative. Google stock just paid dividends; here’s how much investors received
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts flag valuation/near-term margin pressure — Alphabet’s elevated P/E and rising capex for AI/data centers keep some investors cautious despite strong growth. Is Alphabet Stock’s 25.55X PE Still Worth it? Buy, Sell, or Hold?
• Negative Sentiment: High executive compensation scrutiny after reports of Sundar Pichai’s large pay package could raise governance concerns for some investors. What Sundar Pichai’s $692 Million Pay Package Says About Alphabet’s Next Chapter

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $348.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $345.71.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $306.30 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $350.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $318.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.32.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total value of $184,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,325,999.52. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 2,109,115 shares of company stock worth $117,815,536 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.