American Trust Has $4.05 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

American Trust grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 156.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,886 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 126,306 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,948,000 after buying an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in Alphabet by 226.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 236,632 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $39,245,000 after acquiring an additional 164,194 shares during the period. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,673,000. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 290.2% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 181,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,054,000 after acquiring an additional 134,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 923,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $152,128,000 after purchasing an additional 106,890 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $188.51 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.66 and a 1 year high of $201.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $173.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.21. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,590,960. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. This represents a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.69.

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.