Fifth Third Bancorp Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Fifth Third Bancorp trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,834,767 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 97,413 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.8% of Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,200,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Danske Bank A S raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 4,814,157 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,506,831,000 after acquiring an additional 146,601 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 138,362 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $43,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Uptick Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 13,957 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,368,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vantage Point Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Point Financial LLC now owns 4,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet and Blackstone announced a $5 billion AI infrastructure joint venture to build TPU-powered cloud capacity, which could deepen demand for Google’s custom chips and expand its AI ecosystem. Google, Blackstone to create new AI cloud company, WSJ reports
• Positive Sentiment: Google I/O showcased a broad AI push across Search, Gemini, Workspace, shopping, and video tools, reinforcing the idea that Alphabet is monetizing AI rather than just defending against rivals. Google debuts new AI models, personal AI agents in effort to keep pace with OpenAI and Anthropic
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with Arete Research lifting its price target to $425 and maintaining a buy rating, signaling continued upside expectations. Arete Research adjusts price target on Alphabet to $425 from $405
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet said Gemini now has 900 million monthly users and AI Overviews has 2.5 billion monthly users, suggesting its AI products are already reaching scale. Google kicks off I/O conference with AI upgrades for coders, consumers
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet disclosed insider sales by a major shareholder, but the transactions appear routine and are not, by themselves, a strong fundamental signal. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors are uneasy that Google’s AI-heavy search redesign could disrupt the company’s core ad model, especially as the “ten blue links” era fades. Google Search as you know it is over
• Negative Sentiment: There is also headline risk from broader scrutiny around platform responsibility and YouTube youth-safety issues, which may keep some investors cautious. Alphabet’s $5 Trillion Milestone: How AI Ambitions Are Fueling Google’s Record Run

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $387.66 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.00 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $333.00 and its 200-day moving average is $319.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. New Street Research raised their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. China Renaissance raised their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $411.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,908,391. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company 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.