Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Trimmed by Provident Trust Co.

Provident Trust Co. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,212,841 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 192,842 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 16.8% of Provident Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Provident Trust Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,005,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co increased its stake in Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $393.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Freedom Capital cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $435.00 target price (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on Alphabet from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $412.65.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $387.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $336.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $320.82. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google I/O announcements reinforced the company’s AI monetization story, with new ad formats, shopping tools, and Gemini-based products that could lift search and commerce revenue. Alphabet’s new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish or supportive views on Alphabet after I/O, including price-target increases that point to more upside if AI rollout gains traction. Analyst rating updates on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s broader AI push remains a tailwind for Alphabet, with articles highlighting strong cloud/AI demand and growing usage across Gemini and AI Overviews. 4 Cloud Computing Stocks Benefiting From AI-Driven Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to win favorable Wall Street coverage, including multiple buy ratings and raised targets, which can help support the stock near recent highs. Alphabet’s Googlebook Brings Gemini AI to PC Hardware
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s quarterly dividend increase and continued strong earnings remain supportive, but these were already known catalysts rather than a fresh surprise for traders. Alphabet stock performance and company details
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a routine insider sale by a director, which may get attention but does not by itself change the company’s long-term outlook. SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s new AI search experience has sparked debate about the future of web traffic and search behavior, but this is more of a strategic overhang than an immediate earnings issue. Google is going to ruin the internet
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo suspended freeway robotaxi rides and paused Atlanta operations while it fixes software problems in construction zones and flooded roads, raising short-term safety and execution concerns for Alphabet’s self-driving unit. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports said Waymo paused service in multiple cities after robotaxis struggled in heavy rain and construction zones, reinforcing concerns about rollout reliability. Waymo halts freeway rides after robotaxis struggle in construction zones
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and public-safety scrutiny is also building around Google’s platforms, including EU complaints over financial scams and UK child-safety criticism on YouTube. Google, Meta, TikTok face EU consumer complaints about handling of financial scams

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.