Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Mechanics Bank Trust Department

Mechanics Bank Trust Department reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,480 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,420 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 4.6% of Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $35,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $295.77 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $349.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $309.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $296.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. China Renaissance increased their price objective on Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 price target (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $279.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.33.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive — Wells Fargo kept an overweight rating (while trimming targets), and other outlets highlight Buy/Outperform views that point to meaningful upside from cloud/AI monetization. Wells Fargo Raised the PT on Alphabet Inc (GOOGL), Maintains a Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Product/efficiency wins: Google’s Gemma 4 and the TurboQuant algorithm reduce model memory needs and improve on‑device/model efficiency — strengthens competitive moat and could lower operating costs for AI services. Google’s Gemma 4 brings AI superpowers to your device Google’s TurboQuant Breakthrough Just Rewrote the AI Playbook
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamental/earnings confidence: coverage from Zacks and others flags Alphabet’s earnings growth and price strength as reasons to watch the stock heading into earnings season. Earnings Growth & Price Strength Make Alphabet (GOOGL) a Stock to Watch
• Neutral Sentiment: Talent movement: Broadcom named Alphabet executive Amie Thuener as its next CFO — notable departure to monitor but not an immediate earnings event. Broadcom taps Alphabet executive Amie Thuener as next CFO
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory probe in Turkey: the Turkish Competition Board opened an investigation into Google’s advertising and billing practices — potential fines, business restrictions or remediation costs could hit ad revenue/operations in the region. Turkey launches investigation into Google over advertising, billing practices
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk rises as Section 230 liability narrows: recent court losses for platforms (including YouTube/Google units) increase the probability of costly litigation and moderation compliance burdens. Meta, Google under attack as court cases bypass 30-year-old legal shield
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term cash‑flow and capex concern: industry commentary warns that hyperscaler AI capex could push Google’s free cash flow toward zero next year — elevates execution and financing risk until monetization of AI investments scales. Semianalysis CEO: Google’s free cash flow will hit zero next year from AI capex
• Negative Sentiment: Operational/ESG risk from data‑center power strategy: reporting that hyperscalers (including Google) are building large natural‑gas plants to power AI centers raises reputational, regulatory and long‑term transition risks. AI companies are building huge natural gas plants to power data centers. What could go wrong?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: an SEC filing shows a senior exec sold ~9k shares in late March — modest in dollar terms but can be read negatively by short‑term traders. Insider Selling: Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Insider Sells 8,993 Shares of Stock

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total value of $33,934.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,580,469.82. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,101,844 shares of company stock worth $115,147,751. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.