Berkshire Bank Sells 6,570 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Berkshire Bank has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 10.0%, now owning 59,214 shares worth approximately $10.4 million.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares at an average price of $229.73, reducing his ownership by 1.32%.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.3%.

Berkshire Bank lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,214 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,570 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.4% of Berkshire Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Berkshire Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 6.7% during the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Cypress Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.9% in the first quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,371 shares during the period. Finally, Alaethes Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the first quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $2.69 on Friday, hitting $254.72. The stock had a trading volume of 55,452,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,860,836. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $256.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $207.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.54.

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.