CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 87,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,941 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s advertising business is still growing, with one analyst note pointing to rising ad revenues and AI-driven ad tools as a source of further upside. Alphabet Benefits From Rising Advertising Revenues: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said the recent sell-off in big tech and AI names looks more like a buying opportunity than a broken AI thesis, and included Alphabet among the core beneficiaries of the AI trend. Wedbush brushes off tech sell-off as buying chance in multi-year AI bull run
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to get bullish long-term commentary from investors who see it as a strong growth and AI compounder, helped by Google Cloud momentum and AI monetization potential. Alphabet: Still A Top-Tier AI Compounder
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is set to join the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is a notable index inclusion but not an immediate fundamental catalyst. Alphabet Set to Join Dow Jones Industrial Average as Verizon Exits Index (GOOG)
• Neutral Sentiment: A new bill would study data-center energy and water measurement standards, which could eventually affect Alphabet’s cloud and AI infrastructure, but it does not create immediate regulation. New Bill: Representative Suhas Subramanyam introduces H.R. 9372: Data Infrastructure Energy Measurement and Standards Act
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern is centered on Google’s AI talent exodus, with reports of more researchers leaving for rivals like Anthropic, raising worries about execution in Gemini and broader AI competitiveness. Alphabet Shares Fall After Report on Further AI Talent Departures
• Negative Sentiment: A separate report said Google is taking a tougher stance with publishers to secure broader content access for AI training, while publishers warn that traffic declines are already hurting them, adding to regulatory and relationship risk. Google looks to bleed publishers with new AI partnerships that would cull their content
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles this week continued to highlight weakness in the “all-in on AI” trade and pressure on Alphabet shares tied to AI talent losses and competitive fears. Ranking the FAANG Stocks From Most to Least Attractive, Based on Future Cash Flow

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 151,523 shares of company stock worth $4,863,526. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $334.71 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $366.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $331.94. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.71 and a twelve month high of $404.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. Research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $376.78.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.