Mechanics Bank Trust Department Sells 1,361 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 126,393 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,361 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 3.2% of Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $23,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Denver PWM LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.67.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $197.98 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $185.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.55. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.66 and a 52 week high of $202.29.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.