CENTRAL TRUST Co Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 286,398 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,013 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.1% of CENTRAL TRUST Co's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Alphabet were worth $44,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $5,483,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,587,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $436,570,192.16. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $6.68 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $166.64. The company had a trading volume of 75,073,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,656,043. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.75.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.