Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Purchased by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 80.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,126,662 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 947,339 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.1% of Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $610,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,712,878,000 after acquiring an additional 953,790 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,262,000 after acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,174,429,000 after acquiring an additional 111,699,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,569,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Warren Buffett said he personally initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s purchase of Alphabet, giving the stock a high-profile vote of confidence and reinforcing the view that GOOG remains attractive ahead of earnings. Warren Buffett tells CNBC he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and market articles said Alphabet’s AI-driven search, cloud growth, and improving earnings outlook could support another results beat, keeping investor sentiment constructive. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Earnings Expected to Grow: What to Know Ahead of Next Week’s Release
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s large clean-power purchase and ongoing AI infrastructure investment signal continued support for long-term cloud and AI expansion, which investors may view as a strength. Google’s biggest clean power project is 40 miles north of xAI’s unpermitted gas power plant
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet continues to receive favorable brokerage and valuation commentary, with some coverage highlighting strong AI monetization but noting the stock is already pricing in a lot of optimism. GOOGL Stock: Do AI Growth Drivers Justify the Premium Valuation?
• Negative Sentiment: The EU is preparing new fines against Google, adding to regulatory overhang and reminding investors that antitrust risk remains a key issue for the stock. EU Prepares to Fine Google as Part of Increased Big Tech Enforcement
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faced fresh scrutiny from Swiss regulators and new AI-related criticism and lawsuits, which could pressure sentiment around its core search and AI businesses. Google probed by Swiss regulator over Android default search feature

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $470.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $430.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $378.53.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.6%

Alphabet stock opened at $370.21 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $181.50 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $368.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $336.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the sale, the director owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.