Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR Has $17.55 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 92,174 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,604 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 4.4% of Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Stansberry Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stansberry Asset Management LLC now owns 1,557 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $133,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.2 %

GOOG opened at $147.74 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.54 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $177.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.30. 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 released 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.65.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.