Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Trust Co. of Vermont’s 3rd Largest Position

Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 379,163 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,176 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 3.5% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $72,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total transaction of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,516,745.58. This trade represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $197.55 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $185.92 and its 200-day moving average is $174.85. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $202.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.