Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is First National Trust Co’s 8th Largest Position

First National Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 270,983 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.8% of First National Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $84,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,333,076,000 after buying an additional 6,874,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,186,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,984,744,000 after buying an additional 1,034,292 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $368.53 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $352.70 and a 200 day moving average of $327.81. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.00 and a 1-year high of $408.61. 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:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase 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 yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Mizuho lifted their target price on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $460.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Dbs Bank lifted their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.13.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet secured a major cloud deal with SpaceX, adding a high-profile customer and boosting the investment case for its AI infrastructure business. SpaceX signs cloud deal with Google
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $455 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports said Google’s AI search and chatbot products faced criticism after an audit found many chatbot responses on elections were flawed, which may keep pressure on Alphabet’s AI credibility. Over 90% of AI chatbot answers about midterm elections are flawed, stunning analysis shows
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s large equity raise and higher AI capex guidance are still weighing on sentiment because investors are questioning how quickly those investments will pay off. Alphabet is seeking fresh capital as stock’s 4-week losing streak tests investor appetite
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces regulatory pressure in the UK over publisher-content rules in AI search, adding another policy risk for the business. Google search facing UK ‘conduct requirement’

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.