First PREMIER Bank Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

First PREMIER Bank grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,474 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Meritage Group LP grew its stake in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Armor Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $392,588,151.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 158,458 shares of company stock worth $26,375,053 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $179.22 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $170.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.02. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $115.35 and a one year high of $180.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.26.

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.