Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Central Bank & Trust Co.

Central Bank & Trust Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 111,409 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,224 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.4% of Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,980,354,000 after acquiring an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $15,441,917,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,857,154,000 after acquiring an additional 2,416,328 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,316,902,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total transaction of $3,502,575.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,325,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,012,608.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,958 shares of company stock valued at $22,383,553 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $179.63 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $170.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.72. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.35 and a 52-week high of $180.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a market cap of $2.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

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.