First Interstate Bank Has $9.82 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

First Interstate Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,498 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,367 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 0.6% of First Interstate Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

GOOGL stock opened at $182.00 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,943 shares of company stock worth $31,223,348 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.