American National Bank & Trust lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 235,575 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,710 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 4.0% of American National Bank & Trust's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. American National Bank & Trust's holdings in Alphabet were worth $36,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Alphabet
Alphabet Trading Up 0.6%
GOOGL stock traded up $0.96 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $167.14. The stock had a trading volume of 14,658,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,661,879. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $159.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.47. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 163,270 shares of company stock valued at $26,553,563. 11.64% of the stock is owned by 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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