Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.

Key Points

• Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. cut its Alphabet stake by 1.1% in the first quarter, but still held 461,731 shares worth about $132.8 million. Alphabet remains its second-largest holding and makes up roughly 4.1% of its portfolio.
• Wall Street sentiment on Alphabet remains broadly positive, with analysts largely assigning Buy ratings and an average Moderate Buy rating overall. The consensus price target sits around $413.54, while Oppenheimer recently raised its target to $445.
• Alphabet reported a strong quarter, posting $5.11 EPS versus estimates of $2.64 and revenue of $109.9 billion, both ahead of expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share, though the yield remains modest at 0.2%.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 461,731 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,302 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.1% of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $132,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.54.

More Alphabet News

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 Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $358.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization 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. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $174.38 and a one year high of $408.61. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $372.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $336.30. 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 the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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