First Bank & Trust Sells 1,587 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

First Bank & Trust trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,489 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,587 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of First Bank & Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $181.58 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.45. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.