Webster Bank N. A. grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 137,364 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.3% of Webster Bank N. A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Webster Bank N. A.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burt Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,005,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, DZ Bank cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on GOOGL
Alphabet Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $2.70 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $169.04. 17,715,814 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,901,141. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.56. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share 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 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.
Insider Activity
In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 163,159 shares of company stock valued at $26,534,426 in the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
About Alphabet
(
Free Report)
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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