Private Trust Co. NA Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Private Trust Co. NA decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 37,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,919 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.7% of Private Trust Co. NA’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 287.9% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its position in Alphabet by 87.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $168.66 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $191.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.88. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

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.