Columbia Bank Sells 4,654 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Columbia Bank reduced its Alphabet stake by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,654 shares. After the sale, the bank still held 45,948 shares valued at about $14.38 million, making Alphabet its sixth-largest holding.
• Insiders have also been selling Alphabet stock, including John Kent Walker and Frances Arnold, with corporate insiders selling 193,016 shares worth $17.3 million over the last three months. Despite that, insiders still own 11.61% of the company.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Alphabet, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock receiving an average “Moderate Buy” rating. The company also recently beat earnings expectations and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

Columbia Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,948 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,654 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.0% of Columbia Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Columbia Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Symmetry Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Members Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Insight 2811 Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,132,701. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $435.00 target price (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $359.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $360.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $330.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s drone unit Wing expanded its Walmart partnership into seven more U.S. cities, pushing the service toward nearly 20 markets and signaling that drone delivery is moving from experiment to scalable business. Alphabet's Most Overlooked Division Just Had a Big Week
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo launched a new $29.99 monthly membership program with perks for frequent riders, a move that suggests the robotaxi business is building recurring revenue on top of rapid ride-growth. Waymo launches premier subscription tier for $29.99 a month, starting in select cities
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target on Alphabet, adding to the bullish analyst backdrop and supporting the view that the stock still has room to run. Alphabet (GOOGL) Among Our Good Stocks to Buy Now
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America and other commentary highlighted Alphabet as a long-term AI beneficiary, especially as rising model costs could strengthen demand for Google Cloud and infrastructure. Anthropic's Priciest AI Model Yet Is Here. Why Alphabet and Amazon Will Benefit.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet sued an alleged Chinese cybercrime group accused of using Google’s AI tools to run scam operations, which shows the company is actively defending its platform but is not likely to move the stock much on its own. Google sues alleged Chinese cybercrime operation that used AI to send scam texts
• Neutral Sentiment: Some investors noted that Altimeter Capital fully exited its Alphabet stake in Q1, but this appears more like portfolio repositioning than a company-specific warning. Billionaire Brad Gerstner Dumped All of His Alphabet Then Bought 2 Stocks Nobody Expected

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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