M&T Bank Corp Acquires 68,482 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp increased its Alphabet stake by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, adding 68,482 shares and bringing its total holdings to 1,020,091 shares worth about $319.3 million.
• Alphabet continues to draw bullish analyst and investor attention, with multiple firms raising price targets and maintaining buy ratings, while institutional ownership remains high at 40.03%.
• The company posted strong recent earnings, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.21 to $0.22 per share.

M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,020,091 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 68,482 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.0% of M&T Bank Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $319,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital raised its price target on Alphabet to $490 and kept a buy rating, while Oppenheimer lifted its target to $445 with an outperform rating, reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth outlook. Loop Capital price target update Oppenheimer price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports pointed to Alphabet’s AI momentum ahead of Google I/O, including growing customer adoption of Gemini Flash and expectations that the event will showcase more AI innovation. Business Insider on Gemini Flash adoption BofA note on Google I/O
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts also raised forward earnings estimates for Alphabet, suggesting continued confidence in monetization and profit growth. Alphabet earnings estimate update
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet completed a record-breaking yen bond sale, giving it fresh funding capacity to expand AI infrastructure while diversifying its financing sources. Yen bond issuance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around Alphabet’s YouTube revenue, the company’s role in AI infrastructure, and Bill Ackman’s continued interest in mega-cap tech adds to the positive narrative, but these items are more supportive context than direct catalysts. YouTube revenue article Bill Ackman Mag 7 article
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage highlighted Alphabet’s valuation and the broader crowding in AI/mega-cap tech, which could make the stock more vulnerable if sentiment cools. Valuation rerating article UBS crowding warning
• Negative Sentiment: A report that Google may cap new Gmail accounts at 5GB of free storage could be seen as a consumer-unfriendly move and a possible engagement risk if implemented broadly. Gmail storage cap article
• Negative Sentiment: There was also some concern around competition and execution in AI and adjacent hardware, including comparison pieces on Alphabet versus Nvidia and broader AI rivalry. AI competition article

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total value of $9,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,818,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $856,605,814.08. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 157,953 shares of company stock worth $47,767,818. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. New Street Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Arete Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $397.00 to $361.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $410.84.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $396.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick 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 $403.70. The firm's 50-day moving average is $329.30 and its 200-day moving average is $317.27.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 6.41%.

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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