Providence First Trust Co Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Providence First Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,887 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Providence First Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Providence First Trust Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.1 %

Alphabet stock opened at $168.66 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $191.63 and its 200-day moving average is $177.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.