Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 188,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 961 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.7% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crumly & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 5,874 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Windward Capital Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% during the third quarter. Windward Capital Management Co. CA now owns 302,745 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,210,000 after buying an additional 5,121 shares in the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the third quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,476,456 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $576,570,000 after buying an additional 36,190 shares during the period. Holistic Planning LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 18.2% in the third quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 10,895 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 1,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $15,937,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $164.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $167.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.36. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.90 and a 12-month high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.