Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Has $50.12 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Washington Trust Advisors trimmed its Alphabet stake by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, but still held 160,115 shares valued at about $50.1 million. Alphabet remained the firm’s fourth-largest holding and represented 3.8% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet is drawing attention for its AI and search strategy, including Gemini-powered Search ads, new AI features from Google I/O, and infrastructure spending such as a planned $15 billion AI data hub in Missouri. These moves are aimed at supporting long-term growth and protecting its advertising business.
• The stock has seen mixed signals: analysts remain generally bullish with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $412.65 average price target, while insiders have sold shares recently. Alphabet also posted strong quarterly results, beating earnings estimates and raising its dividend to $0.22 per share.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,115 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,308 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 3.8% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $50,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Symmetry Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Members Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,489,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Insight 2811 Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $978,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,274,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is testing Gemini-powered Search ads, including conversational and contextual ad formats that could improve monetization and help offset concerns that AI search may weaken its core advertising model.
• Positive Sentiment: Google and CrowdStrike helped take down a botnet targeting open-source software developers, reinforcing Alphabet’s cybersecurity capabilities and its role in defending the broader internet ecosystem.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports around Google I/O and Alphabet’s broader AI lineup, including new Gemini features and AI search tools, suggest the company is still aggressively innovating to defend its leadership in search and advertising.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s $15 billion Missouri AI data hub investment highlights long-term infrastructure spending to support AI growth, but the near-term stock impact is likely limited.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet has drawn market focus from traders and analysts, with prediction-market activity suggesting shares may stay near current levels in the short term.
• Negative Sentiment: DuckDuckGo reported rising installs as some users respond negatively to Google’s AI Search overhaul, raising investor concerns that the redesign could push a portion of users toward competitors.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged that one Google AI Search result was “more opinionated than it should be,” underscoring the risk of AI accuracy issues and potential user trust problems.
• Negative Sentiment: Federal prosecutors charged a Google employee with insider trading tied to Polymarket bets, creating a reputational overhang even though the case appears to involve an individual employee rather than core business operations.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total value of $9,859,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,674,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $508,028,012.80. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective (up from $395.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $412.65.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $388.83 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The business's fifty day moving average is $342.73 and its 200 day moving average is $323.73. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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