STAR Financial Bank Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

STAR Financial Bank reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 32.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Kentucky Trust Co raised its holdings in Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,966 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,968. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $369.35 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $361.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $330.66. The stock has a market cap of $4.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.00 and a 52 week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 6.71%.

Alphabet News Roundup

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial set a $430.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. President Capital raised their target price on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Mizuho raised their target price on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two research 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 MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Company 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.