Independence Bank of Kentucky Purchases 5,191 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,725 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,191 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.2% of Independence Bank of Kentucky's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Independence Bank of Kentucky's holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten equities research 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, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $173.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company's 50-day moving average is $160.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Alphabet Company 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.

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