Hilltop National Bank Invests $472,000 in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Hilltop National Bank invested approximately $472,000 in Alphabet Inc. by acquiring 2,663 shares during the second quarter, reflecting increased institutional interest in the company.
• Recent insider activities include Director Kavitark Ram Shriram and CEO Sundar Pichai selling significant shares, indicating a decrease in their holdings by 7.09% and 1.27%, respectively, within the past quarter.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded their price targets for Alphabet, with Oppenheimer setting a new target of $270.00, reflecting strong confidence in the company's performance.

Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,663 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $472,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Robbins Farley increased its position in Alphabet by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.33.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $246.45 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $256.70. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $221.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Alphabet Profile

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.