STAR Financial Bank Sells 1,767 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• STAR Financial Bank cut its Alphabet stake by 32.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,767 shares and leaving it with 3,631 shares worth about $1.14 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive on GOOGL: analysts have a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average target price of $413.13, despite a few recent price target adjustments.
• Alphabet posted strong fundamentals, including Q1 EPS of $5.11 versus $2.64 expected and revenue of $109.9 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

STAR Financial Bank lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 32.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,631 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,767 shares during the period. STAR Financial Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Kentucky Trust Co increased its position in Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities raised their price objective on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 191,966 shares of company stock worth $16,963,968. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $369.35 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $361.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $330.66. 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 12 month low of $162.00 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The company has a market cap of $4.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google’s legal action against an AI-enabled scam network highlights Alphabet’s role in fighting online fraud and may strengthen trust in its security ecosystem. AI Scam Surge Prompts Google to File Lawsuit
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Alphabet as a key AI winner, with Gemini, cloud spending, and enterprise demand seen as long-term growth drivers. 3 AI Stocks Poised for Long-Term Gains Despite Strong Year-to-Date Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s increased stake in Alphabet adds a high-profile endorsement and suggests long-term confidence in the stock’s AI and platform value. Berkshire Hathaway's Greg Abel Just Made a Big Bet on Who Will Win the AI Races

About Alphabet

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.