UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 238,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 28,136 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 3.8% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $68,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kaizen Financial Strategies raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 11,455 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,294,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Seaside Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Seaside Wealth Management Inc. now owns 925 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,013,281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,441,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,514 shares during the period. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 44,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,663,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 29,087 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,364,000 after buying an additional 5,628 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $347.15 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $367.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $338.65. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.46 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reportedly developed a new AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to make Gemini run more efficiently, which could improve margins and help ease compute constraints for Google Cloud. Reuters: Google plans new chip to run Gemini models more efficiently
• Positive Sentiment: Google released new Gemini models, including cheaper and more efficient versions, signaling continued AI product momentum ahead of earnings. TechCrunch: Google releases three new Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive on Alphabet going into Q2 results, with expectations that Search and Google Cloud can still deliver strong growth. Yahoo Finance: Alphabet Q2 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s earnings report on Wednesday is expected to be a major market test for AI spending, cloud growth, and capital expenditure discipline. Invezz: What to expect from Alphabet’s Q2 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also facing a cluster of securities-fraud investigation headlines, though these are largely legal overhangs at this stage rather than new operational news. PR Newswire: Securities fraud investigation continues
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that a flagship Gemini model remains delayed, adding to investor worries that heavy AI spending may not translate into results quickly enough. Reuters: Alphabet’s Gemini delay, spending worries loom over earnings

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $393.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $414.54.

About Alphabet

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.