Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 6,059 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,179,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,059 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.2% of Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $370,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2,134.8% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 45,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,984,000 after buying an additional 43,080 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 29,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,381,000 after buying an additional 2,341 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 31.3% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 354,529 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $86,345,000 after buying an additional 84,553 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% during the third quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 221,391 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,920,000 after buying an additional 2,009 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 60,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,060,000 after buying an additional 4,239 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,908,391. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,187,638.65. This trade represents a 22.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 158,553 shares of company stock worth $47,951,856 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $386.77 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $157.58 and a 1-year high of $398.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $320.46 and a 200-day moving average of $313.53. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google said it likely stopped a hacker group from using AI to plan a large-scale cyberattack, underscoring the strength of its cybersecurity capabilities and reducing the risk of a major breach. Reuters: Hackers pushing innovation in AI-enabled hacking operations, Google says
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary remained upbeat on Alphabet’s AI, cloud, and Gemini momentum, with some coverage arguing the company could challenge Nvidia as the world’s most valuable company. MSN: Alphabet could overtake Nvidia as world’s largest company
• Neutral Sentiment: Google Finance is expanding in Europe, adding another AI-focused product initiative, but this is more of a long-term growth story than an immediate stock-moving catalyst. PYMNTS: Google Finance Continues AI-Focused Expansion With EU Launch

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Freedom Capital cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Phillip Securities cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $362.73.

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.