Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Essex Bank

Key Points

• Essex Bank reduced its Alphabet stake by 6.0% in the first quarter, selling 1,655 shares and ending with 25,767 shares valued at about $7.41 million.
• Several analysts remain bullish on Alphabet, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating and average target of $413.13.
• Alphabet posted strong quarterly results and raised its dividend, beating EPS and revenue estimates while increasing its quarterly payout to $0.22 per share from $0.21.

Essex Bank trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 25,767 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,655 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.6% of Essex Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Essex Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC MO lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC MO now owns 8,664 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,491,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 152.7% during the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 37,709 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,844,000 after acquiring an additional 109,271 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 17,629 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,069,000 after buying an additional 3,353 shares during the last quarter. Hendley & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.1% in the first quarter. Hendley & Co. Inc. now owns 10,458 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,007,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. Finally, Athena Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 47.4% during the 1st quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,647 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,624,000 after buying an additional 1,817 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on Alphabet’s growth outlook, pointing to rising advertising revenue and AI-driven ad tools as support for further upside. Alphabet Benefits From Rising Advertising Revenues: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Alphabet is joining the Dow were viewed as a sign of prestige and long-term institutional support for the stock. Google Parent Alphabet Is Joining the Dow. Time to Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly paying Alphabet about $1 billion a year to use Gemini in Siri, highlighting another monetization path for Google’s AI platform even if the deal is smaller than Google’s search-payment arrangement with Apple. Apple Is Paying Google $1 Billion a Year for AI. Here's Who the Real Winner Is.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush said the recent sell-off in major AI names looks more like short-term investor impatience than a breakdown in the AI trade, suggesting the broader pullback may be a buying opportunity. Wedbush brushes off tech sell-off as buying chance in multi-year AI bull run
• Neutral Sentiment: Google Finance launched a new app and upgraded portfolio-tracking features, which improve the product offering but are unlikely to move the stock on their own. Google Finance Debuts App and Investment Tracking Capabilities
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet is facing renewed concern over AI talent departures, including reports of senior researchers leaving for rivals such as Anthropic and OpenAI, which raises questions about execution in Gemini and its broader AI strategy. Alphabet Shares Fall After Report on Further AI Talent Departures
• Negative Sentiment: Google is also drawing criticism for tougher negotiations with publishers over AI content access, potentially worsening relations with media partners already seeing traffic declines from AI search changes. Google looks to bleed publishers with new AI partnerships that would cull their content
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say AI-focused stocks, including Alphabet, are under pressure as investors question whether the “all-in on AI” trade has gone too far in the near term. PLTR, GOOG and MSFT Forecasts – AI Names Struggling at the Moment

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. CICC Research raised 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 151,523 shares of company stock worth $4,863,526. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $337.39 on Friday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $368.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $332.88. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $171.73 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.23. 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:GOOGL - Get Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

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.

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