Fulton Bank N.A. Sells 1,553 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Fulton Bank N.A. decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 103,430 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,553 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.0% of Fulton Bank N.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $29,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,534,239,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $4,338,397,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,546,413,000 after buying an additional 13,004,828 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Freedom Capital lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, CICC Research increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.54.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $358.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $372.47 and a 200-day moving average of $336.30. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $174.38 and a one year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued 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 was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to be viewed as a leading AI beneficiary thanks to its broad distribution across Search, Android, YouTube, Google Cloud and custom chips, which could help it monetize AI spending more effectively than peers. Alphabet vs. Meta: Which AI Stock Is the Better Buy Right Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerage coverage remains favorable, with a report saying analysts see about 10% upside for Alphabet after its recent earnings strength, and another note saying brokerages rate the stock a “Moderate Buy.”
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is still being highlighted as a top internet and cloud stock positioned to benefit from heavy AI infrastructure spending, supporting the view that growth can continue even as the market rotates among tech leaders.
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s recent $10 billion private placement in Alphabet is continuing to attract bullish attention, signaling institutional confidence in the company’s long-term value and AI potential.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo’s plan to expand driverless rides to four more major cities adds another long-term growth avenue outside core advertising and cloud businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google is rolling out disclosures showing when ads were made with AI, which may improve transparency but does not appear to be a major near-term financial driver.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s search product hit record query volume during the World Cup, underscoring usage strength in the core business, though this is more of an engagement datapoint than a direct earnings catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Google is appealing an Indian ruling tied to trademark issues in its ads platform, creating a legal/regulatory headline that could weigh on sentiment around the advertising business. Google appeals Indian ruling over its ads platform, citing consumer harm
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary notes that Alphabet has pulled back alongside other mega-cap tech names as investors rotate toward other parts of the AI trade, which may be contributing to the stock’s weakness today.

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.