Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 29,554 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,986,971 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 29,554 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.3% of Fifth Third Bancorp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $616,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.10 during trading on Monday, hitting $176.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 27,324,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,428,411. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $163.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.74. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.