Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by American Trust

American Trust reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 826 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 8,370 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 273,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,510,000 after buying an additional 24,610 shares during the last quarter. 360 Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 134.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 751,090 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $105,851,000 after buying an additional 430,174 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 404,285 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $56,976,000 after acquiring an additional 89,284 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 28th. Pivotal Research began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,264,112. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,206.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 193,725 shares of company stock worth $31,933,031. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $168.42 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.46 and a fifty-two week high of $193.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $163.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.