Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Mechanics Bank Trust Department

Mechanics Bank Trust Department lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,967 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.7% of Mechanics Bank Trust Department's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Mechanics Bank Trust Department's holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574,417 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $2.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $169.03. 37,013,979 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,982,477. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's fifty day moving average is $159.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.56.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% 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, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 163,159 shares of company stock valued at $26,534,426 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wedbush set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.