Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp trimmed its Alphabet stake by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, but still held 3.62 million shares worth about $1.14 billion, making GOOG its 9th largest holding.
• Alphabet insiders sold shares recently, including CEO Sundar Pichai and insider John Kent Walker; overall insiders have sold 158,553 shares worth about $47.95 million over the last 90 days.
• Alphabet continues to draw bullish analyst attention, with a majority of ratings at Buy or Strong Buy and an average price target of $362.73, while the company also posted strong quarterly earnings and raised its dividend.

Truist Financial Corp reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,620,244 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 17,414 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.5% of Truist Financial Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,136,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,438.5% during the fourth quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 200 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 158,553 shares of company stock worth $47,951,856 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $362.73.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled a broader AI push at its Android event, including Gemini-powered features, new “Googlebooks” laptops, and agentic AI tools, reinforcing the company’s leadership in AI and mobile ecosystems.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Google is discussing orbital data centers with SpaceX have sparked investor excitement about a potential long-term infrastructure advantage in AI and cloud computing. Report: Google and SpaceX in talks to put data centers into orbit
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to attract bullish analyst and investor attention after strong Q1 results and ongoing cloud/AI growth, supporting the case for additional upside. Alphabet: The A-Z AI Play Set To Profit From The Whole Industry
• Positive Sentiment: Several large investors disclosed higher stakes in Alphabet, including Capital World Investors and other institutions, which can reinforce confidence in the stock’s long-term fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: One fund update showed a large reduction in GOOG holdings by Capital International Investors, but this appears to be portfolio rebalancing rather than a direct company-specific warning.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet still faces regulatory pressure in Europe, including efforts to avoid an EU antitrust fine tied to spam-policy changes and broader DMA compliance concerns.

Alphabet Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $399.06 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $323.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $315.48. The company has a market cap of $4.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.25. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.93 and a fifty-two week high of $399.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid 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 dividend 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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