Iowa State Bank Sells 3,812 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Iowa State Bank decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,971 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,812 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.5% of Iowa State Bank's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Iowa State Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th 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 position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $2.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $169.03. The stock had a trading volume of 37,013,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,982,477. 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 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $159.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.56.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DZ Bank cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

About Alphabet

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.