CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 7,525 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its Alphabet stake by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,525 shares and leaving it with 269,925 shares valued at about $84.5 million.
• Alphabet’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $5.11 versus $2.64 estimated and revenue of $109.9 billion, while the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $412.65, even as some analysts turned more cautious and Waymo faced fresh safety and rollout concerns.

CENTRAL TRUST Co lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 269,925 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,525 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.7% of CENTRAL TRUST Co's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Alphabet were worth $84,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google I/O announcements reinforced the company’s AI monetization story, with new ad formats, shopping tools, and Gemini-based products that could lift search and commerce revenue. Alphabet's new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish or supportive views on Alphabet after I/O, including price-target increases that point to more upside if AI rollout gains traction. Analyst rating updates on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s broader AI push remains a tailwind for Alphabet, with articles highlighting strong cloud/AI demand and growing usage across Gemini and AI Overviews. 4 Cloud Computing Stocks Benefiting From AI-Driven Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to win favorable Wall Street coverage, including multiple buy ratings and raised targets, which can help support the stock near recent highs. Alphabet's Googlebook Brings Gemini AI to PC Hardware
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s quarterly dividend increase and continued strong earnings remain supportive, but these were already known catalysts rather than a fresh surprise for traders. Alphabet stock performance and company details
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a routine insider sale by a director, which may get attention but does not by itself change the company’s long-term outlook. SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s new AI search experience has sparked debate about the future of web traffic and search behavior, but this is more of a strategic overhang than an immediate earnings issue. Google is going to ruin the internet
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo suspended freeway robotaxi rides and paused Atlanta operations while it fixes software problems in construction zones and flooded roads, raising short-term safety and execution concerns for Alphabet’s self-driving unit. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports said Waymo paused service in multiple cities after robotaxis struggled in heavy rain and construction zones, reinforcing concerns about rollout reliability. Waymo halts freeway rides after robotaxis struggle in construction zones
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and public-safety scrutiny is also building around Google’s platforms, including EU complaints over financial scams and UK child-safety criticism on YouTube. Google, Meta, TikTok face EU consumer complaints about handling of financial scams

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total value of $9,859,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,674,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $508,028,012.80. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,955,564. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $387.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $336.26 and a 200-day moving average of $320.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Freedom Capital cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. China Renaissance increased their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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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