St. Louis Trust Co Purchases Shares of 2,329 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

St. Louis Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,329 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $185.94. 20,915,424 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,587,144. The company has a fifty day moving average of $174.02 and a 200-day moving average of $174.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 215,843 shares of company stock valued at $37,288,490. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.40.

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.