Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp trimmed its Alphabet stake by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 26,866 shares and ending with 2.6 million shares worth about $813.8 million.
• Alphabet continues to draw attention for its AI momentum, with strong Q1 results, accelerating Google Cloud growth, and new AI search and agent features boosting investor sentiment.
• The stock remains supported by Wall Street optimism and a modest dividend increase, though antitrust appeals and Waymo safety issues remain key risks.

Truist Financial Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,599,928 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 26,866 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.1% of Truist Financial Corp's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $813,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $416,217,000. Sovran Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 23.6% in the third quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 21.2% in the third quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,171,000 after purchasing an additional 8,746 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.4% in the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 72,608 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,666,577 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $405,131,000 after purchasing an additional 60,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Q1 results were highlighted as one of the strongest among the Mag 7, with Google Cloud showing accelerating sales growth and broader AI momentum helping investor sentiment. Alphabet and NVIDIA: The Biggest Mag 7 Winners This Earnings Season
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s I/O announcements continued to reinforce Alphabet’s AI story, including new AI search experiences, agent tools, and upcoming AI glasses that suggest the company is expanding beyond traditional search. We tried Google's AI glasses and they're almost there
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with multiple firms reiterating positive views and new AI ad formats seen as potentially boosting conversions and monetization in Search and Commerce. Alphabet's new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled a $15 billion Missouri data center investment, underscoring continued capital spending to support AI infrastructure and cloud demand. Google Unveils $15 Billion Missouri Data Center Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discussed Google’s revamped AI-driven search experience and agent ecosystem, which are strategically important but still too early to measure their near-term financial impact. Google is pitching an AI agent ecosystem to consumers who may not buy it
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo temporarily suspended service in multiple cities after robotaxis drove into flooded roads, adding another safety and execution concern for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s appeal of the antitrust ruling remains the biggest overhang, since a loss or forced remedies could eventually weigh on the company’s core search and advertising economics. Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $382.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $337.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $321.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.00 and a 1 year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,621 shares in the company, valued at $6,908,391. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Arete Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Alphabet from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $412.65.

Alphabet 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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