American Trust boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,332 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,903 shares during the quarter. American Trust's holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,741,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,816,000 after buying an additional 14,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Alphabet Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $4.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $172.90. The stock had a trading volume of 37,917,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,780,742. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.76. 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.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, 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. Ten investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on GOOGL
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Alphabet Profile
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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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