Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Colonial Trust Co SC's 8th Largest Position

Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,723 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,737 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.6% of Colonial Trust Co SC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Colonial Trust Co SC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 146,824 shares of company stock valued at $25,086,603 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $163.23 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $159.92 and a 200 day moving average of $175.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Alphabet 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.

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