Boston Trust Walden Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 944,188 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 113,033 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.2% of Boston Trust Walden Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $295,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY grew its stake in Alphabet by 17.6% in the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $85,557,000 after acquiring an additional 48,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. New Street Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $407.86.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

Alphabet stock opened at $400.69 on Friday. 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 $152.20 and a 1-year high of $402.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $318.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $311.72. The company has a market cap of $4.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. 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%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet unveiled upcoming AI-powered bidding and budget-pacing tools for Google Ads, which could make Search and Shopping advertising more efficient and attractive for advertisers. Google AI Automates Ad Bidding and Budget Pacing
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts raised price targets on Alphabet, including DBS Bank to $460 and other firms lifting estimates after the company’s earnings beat, reinforcing the view that results remain stronger than expected. DBS Bank Adjusts Price Target on Alphabet to 460
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s partnership with OTB Group on a generative-AI virtual try-on experience adds to the narrative that Alphabet can monetize AI across enterprise and retail use cases. Google Cloud Partners With OTB Group
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted strong investor appetite for AI leaders such as Google, and recent coverage continues to frame Alphabet as one of the main beneficiaries of the AI spending cycle. Google, Broadcom Drive Delirious Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports on Google’s AI “agent” efforts and AI search features suggest Alphabet is expanding its product lead in next-generation search and automation tools. Meta, Google enter AI agent race
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also getting more time to address EU regulators’ concerns in an ongoing antitrust investigation, which removes some immediate pressure but does not eliminate the legal overhang. Google Gets More Time in EU Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Google faces a new UK lawsuit over online display ads, adding another antitrust/legal risk that could weigh on sentiment if regulatory scrutiny intensifies. Google Faces New UK Lawsuit Over Online Display Ads

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the sale, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,187,638.65. The trade was a 22.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.