Sabal Trust CO Acquires 6,224 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sabal Trust CO raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,695 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,224 shares during the quarter. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $513,024,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 valued at $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 26.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,064,598 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,669,300,000 after acquiring an additional 2,136,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $331,700,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $164.04 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.03 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $187.20 and its 200 day moving average is $176.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by 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.