Moody National Bank Trust Division Sells 2,845 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Moody National Bank Trust Division sold 2,845 shares of Alphabet Inc., reducing its stake by 4.1%, leaving it with approximately 65,765 shares valued at $11.59 million.
• Alphabet recently reported strong earnings for the quarter, posting $2.31 EPS, exceeding estimates, with revenues of $96.43 billion, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a current yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Moody National Bank Trust Division reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,765 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,845 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.1% of Moody National Bank Trust Division's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Moody National Bank Trust Division's holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after buying an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,783,364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473,901 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,749,806,000 after buying an additional 593,345 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,153,481,000 after purchasing an additional 727,335 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,962,389,000 after purchasing an additional 104,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $254.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,452,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,953,800. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $256.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $209.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.41.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. 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 the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were 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 directly owned 2,397,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $598,149,304. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction of $149,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,425,799.04. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.54.

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.