Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Holdings Reduced by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 89,362 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,216 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904,434 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,749,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209,203 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 4.0%

GOOG stock opened at $399.06 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.93 and a 12 month high of $399.93. The firm has a market cap of $4.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $323.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $315.48. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. 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 $106.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $362.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total transaction of $37,842.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,908,391. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled a broader AI push at its Android event, including Gemini-powered features, new “Googlebooks” laptops, and agentic AI tools, reinforcing the company’s leadership in AI and mobile ecosystems.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Google is discussing orbital data centers with SpaceX have sparked investor excitement about a potential long-term infrastructure advantage in AI and cloud computing. Report: Google and SpaceX in talks to put data centers into orbit
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to attract bullish analyst and investor attention after strong Q1 results and ongoing cloud/AI growth, supporting the case for additional upside. Alphabet: The A-Z AI Play Set To Profit From The Whole Industry
• Positive Sentiment: Several large investors disclosed higher stakes in Alphabet, including Capital World Investors and other institutions, which can reinforce confidence in the stock’s long-term fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: One fund update showed a large reduction in GOOG holdings by Capital International Investors, but this appears to be portfolio rebalancing rather than a direct company-specific warning.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet still faces regulatory pressure in Europe, including efforts to avoid an EU antitrust fine tied to spam-policy changes and broader DMA compliance concerns.

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.