Mechanics Bank Trust Department Sells 3,584 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Mechanics Bank Trust Department sold 3,584 shares of Alphabet Inc., reducing its stake by 11.1%, resulting in 28,595 shares valued at approximately $5.07 million.
• Brokerages have increased their price targets for Alphabet, with Robert W. Baird setting a new target of $275, indicating a positive outlook on the company’s performance.
• Alphabet recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, translating to an annual dividend yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Mechanics Bank Trust Department decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,595 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,584 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department's holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after acquiring an additional 20,855 shares during the period. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $79,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $403,000. Finally, Infinitum Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $9,522,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. KeyCorp set a $265.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $230.35.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total transaction of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,397,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $598,149,304. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $252.88 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $211.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.24. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $256.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.Alphabet's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

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.

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