First Merchants Corp Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• First Merchants Corp trimmed its Alphabet stake by 2.7% in Q1, selling 5,065 shares and leaving it with 182,160 shares valued at about $52.4 million. Alphabet remains its 7th-largest holding, making up roughly 2% of the portfolio.
• Alphabet received several positive catalysts, including being added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the launch of a new Google Finance app with expanded portfolio-tracking tools. These developments could support investor sentiment and index-fund demand.
• Offsetting that optimism, recent reports of AI talent departures and a delayed Gemini 3.5 Pro launch have pressured shares amid concerns about competition in artificial intelligence. Still, analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and a target price of $413.13.

First Merchants Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 182,160 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,065 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.0% of First Merchants Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $52,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5.8% in the first quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC now owns 17,416 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,008,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Tactive Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Tactive Advisors LLC now owns 7,530 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,165,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Capstone Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 9,041 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the period. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,651 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 76,600 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,027,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was announced as the replacement for Verizon in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a high-profile index inclusion that can boost demand from index funds and improve investor sentiment. Alphabet replacing Verizon in Dow Jones Industrial Average index
• Positive Sentiment: Google Finance launched a new app and expanded portfolio-tracking tools, adding another product update that could support engagement across Google’s financial services ecosystem. Google Finance Debuts App and Investment Tracking Capabilities
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports noted Alphabet remains a favored large-cap tech name among some investors and that the stock had previously benefited from the Dow inclusion announcement.
• Negative Sentiment: News that multiple AI researchers are leaving Google for rivals such as Anthropic and OpenAI is pressuring sentiment, as investors worry about talent retention and competitive pressure in AI. Alphabet Shares Fall After Report on Further AI Talent Departures
• Negative Sentiment: Additional coverage of Google’s “brain drain” and reports that Gemini 3.5 Pro was delayed to July add to concerns that Alphabet may be losing ground in the AI race. Google delays Gemini 3.5 Pro launch to July as it tweaks its new frontier AI model
• Negative Sentiment: The broader selloff also reflects anxiety around AI execution and competition, with investors reacting to talent departures and delays rather than the company’s longer-term fundamentals.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 151,523 shares of company stock valued at $4,863,526. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Arete Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Phillip Securities increased their target price on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $343.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $368.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $332.85. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.94 and a 1 year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

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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