Morton Community Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Morton Community Bank increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 9.4% in the first quarter, owning 18,675 shares valued at approximately $2.89 million after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with targets ranging from $191 to $240, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $211.53.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.4%.

Morton Community Bank raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,675 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,605 shares during the period. Morton Community Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Roth Capital increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet 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 in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $203.90 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm's 50 day moving average is $184.25 and its 200 day moving average is $173.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

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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