CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 17,410 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 290,411 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 17,410 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.3% of CENTRAL TRUST Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $54,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Denver PWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $185.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.76. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.66 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.