M&T Bank Corp Sells 944,093 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

M&T Bank Corp decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 99.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,516 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 944,093 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co grew 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $400.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The business’s 50-day moving average is $318.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $311.72. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $152.20 and a 1 year high of $402.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Alphabet from $397.00 to $361.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, New Street Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $407.86.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet unveiled upcoming AI-powered bidding and budget-pacing tools for Google Ads, which could make Search and Shopping advertising more efficient and attractive for advertisers. Google AI Automates Ad Bidding and Budget Pacing
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts raised price targets on Alphabet, including DBS Bank to $460 and other firms lifting estimates after the company’s earnings beat, reinforcing the view that results remain stronger than expected. DBS Bank Adjusts Price Target on Alphabet to 460
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s partnership with OTB Group on a generative-AI virtual try-on experience adds to the narrative that Alphabet can monetize AI across enterprise and retail use cases. Google Cloud Partners With OTB Group
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted strong investor appetite for AI leaders such as Google, and recent coverage continues to frame Alphabet as one of the main beneficiaries of the AI spending cycle. Google, Broadcom Drive Delirious Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports on Google’s AI “agent” efforts and AI search features suggest Alphabet is expanding its product lead in next-generation search and automation tools. Meta, Google enter AI agent race
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also getting more time to address EU regulators’ concerns in an ongoing antitrust investigation, which removes some immediate pressure but does not eliminate the legal overhang. Google Gets More Time in EU Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Google faces a new UK lawsuit over online display ads, adding another antitrust/legal risk that could weigh on sentiment if regulatory scrutiny intensifies. Google Faces New UK Lawsuit Over Online Display Ads

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

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.