Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Boosted by Arlington Trust Co LLC

Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,831 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.9% of Arlington Trust Co LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Arlington Trust Co LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was 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 owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of GOOGL traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $177.62. The stock had a trading volume of 29,191,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,845,344. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $169.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.69.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

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.