Somerset Trust Co Has $1.23 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Somerset Trust Co grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 30.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,972 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,851 shares during the quarter. Somerset Trust Co's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 164,533 shares of company stock worth $26,772,774. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $2.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $169.73. 52,598,920 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,949,599. The company's 50 day moving average is $159.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.59. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Alphabet 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.