Argent Trust Co Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Argent Trust Co grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 267,066 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.7% of Argent Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total transaction of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,494,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $201.42 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $180.89 and a 200 day moving average of $172.80.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Company 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.