Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Equitable Trust Co.

Equitable Trust Co. lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 264,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 41,577 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.8% of Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $43,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $167.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $127.90 and a one year high of $191.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $167.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.38. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

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.