Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Piscataqua Savings Bank

Key Points

• Piscataqua Savings Bank reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 4.1%, resulting in ownership of 27,221 shares worth approximately $4.8 million, making it the bank's fourth largest investment.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for Alphabet, with Needham & Company increasing it from $220 to $260, indicating a strong bullish outlook on the stock.
• Alphabet has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 0.3%, with a low payout ratio of 8.95%.

Piscataqua Savings Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,221 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,155 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 4.0% of Piscataqua Savings Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Piscataqua Savings Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Westpark Capital increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $254.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $256.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $209.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.41.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.