First Financial Corp IN Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

First Financial Corp IN decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,873 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.7% of First Financial Corp IN’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. This represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 130,553 shares of company stock valued at $23,817,951 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $189.66 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $183.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.