Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Buys 8,377 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 245,009 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,377 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.8% of Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $46,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,154,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Alphabet by 7.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after buying an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after buying an additional 1,237,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the third 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 buying an additional 523,416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,029 shares of company stock worth $12,625,003 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $183.77 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.66 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $193.05 and a 200-day moving average of $175.30.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

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.