Thomasville National Bank Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Thomasville National Bank boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 15.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,475 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,540 shares during the quarter. Thomasville National Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $174.67. 27,636,835 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,391,108. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.61. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,232,544.70. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.