Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 15,488 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group trimmed its Alphabet stake by 2.2% in the first quarter, selling 15,488 shares and leaving it with 682,561 shares worth about $196.3 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.11 versus consensus of $2.64 and revenue of $109.9 billion beating estimates, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.
• Recent headlines remain focused on Alphabet’s AI strategy, including reports of a new chip for Gemini and new model launches, though investor concerns persist about delays and the payoff from heavy AI spending.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 682,561 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 15,488 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 2.7% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Alphabet were worth $196,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $45,625,595,000 after buying an additional 2,666,676 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218,852 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $347.15 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $4.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.24. The stock's 50-day moving average is $367.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $338.65. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.46 and a 1-year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reportedly developed a new AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to make Gemini run more efficiently, which could improve margins and help ease compute constraints for Google Cloud. Reuters: Google plans new chip to run Gemini models more efficiently
• Positive Sentiment: Google released new Gemini models, including cheaper and more efficient versions, signaling continued AI product momentum ahead of earnings. TechCrunch: Google releases three new Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive on Alphabet going into Q2 results, with expectations that Search and Google Cloud can still deliver strong growth. Yahoo Finance: Alphabet Q2 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s earnings report on Wednesday is expected to be a major market test for AI spending, cloud growth, and capital expenditure discipline. Invezz: What to expect from Alphabet's Q2 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also facing a cluster of securities-fraud investigation headlines, though these are largely legal overhangs at this stage rather than new operational news. PR Newswire: Securities fraud investigation continues
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that a flagship Gemini model remains delayed, adding to investor worries that heavy AI spending may not translate into results quickly enough. Reuters: Alphabet's Gemini delay, spending worries loom over earnings

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Barclays reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. HSBC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, China Renaissance upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $414.54.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last ninety days. Company 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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