Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Bought by M&T Bank Corp

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp boosted its Alphabet stake by 0.7% in Q4 to 2,025,228 shares (about $635.5 million), making GOOG its 10th-largest holding and ~2.0% of the fund.
• Alphabet beat estimates last quarter with EPS of $5.11 vs $2.68 expected and revenue of $109.9 billion, up 21.8% year-over-year.
• Significant insider selling has occurred recently (insiders sold 158,553 shares worth ~$47.95M in the last 90 days, including CEO Sundar Pichai), even as many analysts have raised targets and issued Buy/Strong Buy ratings.

M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,025,228 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,874 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.0% of M&T Bank Corp's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $635,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its stake in Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1,438.5% in the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 200 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,818,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $856,605,814.08. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 momentum and Anthropic cloud deal continue to underpin the rally — social and analyst chatter notes a post-earnings surge, AI-fueled ad strength and a reported ~$200B Anthropic commitment that materially boosts Alphabet’s cloud backlog and revenue visibility. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets — Mizuho and other firms have raised forecasts and targets (examples around $460+), supporting upside expectations and helping push the stock higher. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying reported — a handful of funds disclosed fresh additions (Swiss National Bank, Allen Investment, Fisher Asset among others), signaling conviction from large holders. Read More. • Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: New consumer products and subscription moves could expand monetization but are early-stage — Google launched the Fitbit Air wearable and an AI health-coach subscription, which add recurring-revenue potential but are not yet material to near-term results. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulatory risk remains — Alphabet has proposed changes to news search to head off additional multibillion-euro fines, highlighting ongoing antitrust exposure that could pressure European revenue or require product changes. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider and some institutional selling — data show heavy insider sales in recent months and several large funds (Deutsche Bank, CalPERS, Madison) trimmed GOOG positions, which can cap short-term upside and increase volatility. Read More. • Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $470.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $362.73.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.0%

Alphabet stock opened at $395.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.83 and a twelve month high of $397.36. The company's 50-day moving average price is $317.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $311.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business's revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.81 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

About Alphabet

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.

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