Cadence Bank Sells 2,315 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Cadence Bank decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,193 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,315 shares during the quarter. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,749,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209,203 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,583,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,935,671,000 after acquiring an additional 223,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,625,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,971,769,000 after acquiring an additional 539,679 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.73.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s recent earnings strength continues to drive optimism, with analysts raising price targets and earnings estimates after a strong Q1 beat that showed faster growth in Search, Cloud, and YouTube. Investors are also reacting to broad bullish coverage and high-profile holders adding to GOOG exposure.
• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding its AI monetization tools, unveiling AI-powered Search and Shopping bidding/budgeting features that could make ad spending more efficient and support ad revenue growth. Article: Google AI Automates Ad Bidding and Budget Pacing
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is also leaning into AI and consumer hardware, with new Fitbit Air and AI health-coach launches, plus continued work on smart glasses and broader agentic AI products. These developments reinforce the view that Google is becoming a major AI platform across ads, devices, and subscriptions.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports point to continued institutional interest and analyst support, including fund additions and upgraded target prices, but these are largely reinforcement signals rather than immediate catalysts.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory overhang remains a concern after Google was given more time to address EU antitrust issues, and a new UK lawsuit over online display ads adds another legal challenge. Article: Google has bit more time to address concerns in EU investigation, EU Commission says
• Negative Sentiment: Google also settled a racial discrimination lawsuit for $50 million, which removes some uncertainty but highlights ongoing reputational and legal risks tied to employment practices. Article: Google settles racial discrimination lawsuit for $50 million

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $397.05 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.83 and a 52-week high of $398.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $317.19 and its 200 day moving average is $311.59. The company has a market cap of $4.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

About Alphabet

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.