Rockland Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Rockland Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,507 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,356 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,465,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.1% during the second quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% during the second quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the second quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.1% in the first quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $167.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.49. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.46 and a twelve month high of $193.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Pivotal Research began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total value of $4,113,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,204,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $403,141,173.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 217,592 shares of company stock worth $35,922,911. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.