Sabal Trust CO Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sabal Trust CO lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,695 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,224 shares during the period. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th 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 position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $164.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.03 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $187.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.55.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. KeyCorp upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. Corporate insiders own 11.55% 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.