Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Raised by Exchange Bank

Exchange Bank increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,986 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.4% of Exchange Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Exchange Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,910,838,000 after acquiring an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after purchasing an additional 523,416 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $200.21 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $202.29.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,516,745.58. This trade represents a 4.93 % 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, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.44.

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.