Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Position Reduced by City Holding Co.

Key Points

• City Holding Co. trimmed its holdings by 8% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,671 shares and ending with 99,352 Alphabet shares worth $31.1 million — Alphabet now represents about 3.8% of City Holding’s portfolio and is its largest position.
• Alphabet beat quarterly expectations, reporting $2.82 EPS vs. $2.57 est. and $113.83 billion in revenue, and it recently paid a $0.21 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.84, ~0.2% yield).
• Positive momentum from Google Cloud/AI (new TPUs, the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, a $750M partner fund and large deals like Merck) has spurred analyst target upgrades, but investors should note regulatory pressure in the EU and recent insider selling (over 2.03M shares sold in the past three months) as potential risks.

City Holding Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,352 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,671 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.8% of City Holding Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. City Holding Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Members Trust Co boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. White Wing Wealth Management increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,155 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,799 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,693,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MRA Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 1,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $338.89 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $308.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $303.92. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.84 and a 12 month high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.24 billion. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.57 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled two eighth‑generation TPUs (separate chips for training and inference), a move that could lower AI infrastructure costs and help Google Cloud compete with Nvidia. This product push underpins revenue and margin upside in cloud/AI services. Google Cloud launches two new AI chips to compete with Nvidia
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet amplified its enterprise AI strategy at Cloud Next — launching the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform and a $750M partner fund to accelerate agentic AI adoption. That accelerates monetization paths for AI in Google Cloud. Google makes an interesting choice with its new agent building tool for enterprises
• Positive Sentiment: Large commercial deals are following: Merck committed up to $1B to use Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise, validating enterprise demand and multiyear revenue potential for cloud AI services. Merck to partner with Google Cloud on AI initiatives
• Positive Sentiment: Several sell‑side firms raised targets or reiterated bullish views (BMO to $410, UBS up to $375, Cantor to $395, KeyCorp to $380; JPMorgan and BofA reiterated Buy), signaling analyst confidence in Cloud + AI-driven growth ahead of Q1 results. BMO Raises Alphabet’s Target to $410 and Calls It “the Best Way to Own AI”
• Neutral Sentiment: Google is rolling consumer and workplace AI features (Wallet travel updates, Workspace automation, Chrome “auto browse”) that expand product engagement but are longer‑term monetization plays. Google updates Workspace to make AI your new office intern
• Neutral Sentiment: Independent bullish commentary (e.g., investor columns and pundit targets like Jim Cramer) support investor conviction but are opinion‑driven rather than new fundamentals. Jim Cramer sets Google stock price target
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators are pressuring Google to give rival AI assistants access to Android features — a potential regulatory move that could weaken Android‑centric advantages and complicate Google’s ad/assistant ecosystem. Google Faces New EU Pressure to Give AI Rivals Android Access
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling was reported, which briefly pressured shares; while not necessarily indicative of fundamentals, it can spook short‑term sentiment ahead of earnings. Alphabet Inc. NASDAQ: GOOGL Shares Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $395.00 price objective (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $369.67.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. This trade represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,037,294 shares of company stock worth $94,216,897. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Alphabet

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.