First Western Trust Bank Has $13.26 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

First Western Trust Bank trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,947 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,327 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.6% of First Western Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 186,124 shares of company stock valued at $31,374,030 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $171.49 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.90 and a 12 month high of $191.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

About Alphabet

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.