Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 6,059 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp trimmed its Alphabet position by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,059 shares but still holding 1,179,323 shares worth about $370.1 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on GOOG, with recent analyst actions including multiple strong-buy or outperform ratings and a consensus price target of $362.73.
• Alphabet reported a strong latest quarter, posting $5.11 EPS versus the $2.68 estimate and revenue of $109.9 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,179,323 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,059 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.2% of Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $370,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,438.5% in the fourth quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 200 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $362.73.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google said it likely stopped a hacker group from using AI to plan a large-scale cyberattack, underscoring the strength of its cybersecurity capabilities and reducing the risk of a major breach. Reuters: Hackers pushing innovation in AI-enabled hacking operations, Google says
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary remained upbeat on Alphabet’s AI, cloud, and Gemini momentum, with some coverage arguing the company could challenge Nvidia as the world’s most valuable company. MSN: Alphabet could overtake Nvidia as world's largest company
• Neutral Sentiment: Google Finance is expanding in Europe, adding another AI-focused product initiative, but this is more of a long-term growth story than an immediate stock-moving catalyst. PYMNTS: Google Finance Continues AI-Focused Expansion With EU Launch

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $386.77 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $4.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $320.46 and a 200 day moving average of $313.53. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $157.58 and a 12 month high of $398.37.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.Alphabet's revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,187,638.65. The trade was a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

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