Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Position Cut by Mechanics Bank Trust Department

Mechanics Bank Trust Department lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 106,791 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,120 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 4.7% of Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $38,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY grew its holdings in Alphabet by 17.6% in the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total transaction of $27,337.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,305,738.46. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 540,470 shares of company stock worth $14,873,168. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $419.86.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Gemini app has surpassed 1 billion monthly active users, strengthening the case that the company’s AI investments are gaining broad consumer adoption. Google’s Gemini app surges to one billion users
• Positive Sentiment: Ryanair signed a five-year Google Cloud agreement to deploy Gemini, DeepMind and Workspace tools across its 35,000 employees, providing another example of enterprise AI monetization. Ryanair signs five-year Google Cloud deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Alphabet as an attractive AI and cloud investment, citing strong Google Cloud margins and valuation support following its strong second-quarter results. Google Cloud margins supported Alphabet’s stock
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet unveiled Pixel 11 phones, the Pixel Watch 5, a $29 Pixel Tag and additional Gemini features, expanding its hardware ecosystem and opportunities to distribute AI services. Google unveils Pixel 11 lineup and Gemini features

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $343.54 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $354.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $340.94. The company has a market cap of $4.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $196.60 and a one year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

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.