Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Trimmed by Ledyard National Bank

Ledyard National Bank reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,239 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 547 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.6% of Ledyard National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,117,971 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $435,549,000 after purchasing an additional 214,420 shares during the last quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $416,000. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 133,437 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,640,000 after buying an additional 3,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orca Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 19,273 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,692,000 after buying an additional 1,187 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $171.25 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $105.16 and a 1 year high of $174.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.73, for a total value of $119,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,072,665.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.73, for a total value of $119,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,072,665.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 48,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.20, for a total transaction of $6,836,407.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,809,495. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,629 shares of company stock worth $37,091,240. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.60.

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.