Charles Schwab Trust Co Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Charles Schwab Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 43.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,336 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,610 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Trust Co's holdings in Alphabet were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,483,898,000 after acquiring an additional 15,968,487 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $5.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $173.68. The stock had a trading volume of 35,701,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,134,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $159.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. UBS Group set a $195.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.