United Bank Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

United Bank lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,177 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,132 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.8% of United Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. United Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% during the third quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,037,196,000 after buying an additional 611,233 shares during the last quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,567,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. EWG Elevate Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $195.42 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $172.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.97. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 178,957 shares of company stock valued at $31,358,687. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.