Webster Bank N. A. Boosts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Webster Bank N. A. raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,734 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares during the quarter. Webster Bank N. A.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,395,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Hutchinson Capital Management CA increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,555 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2%

Alphabet stock traded down $2.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $170.87. 36,230,934 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,270,834. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $160.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 164,533 shares of company stock worth $26,772,774. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

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.