Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Sells 9,546 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 525,667 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,546 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.5% of Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $100,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $147.74 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.54 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.43.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.65.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.