Essex Savings Bank Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Essex Savings Bank cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,990 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 174 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.4% of Essex Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,355,724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470,042 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,815,986,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876,534 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,963,128,000 after acquiring an additional 979,083 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,414,179,000 after acquiring an additional 684,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,688,743,000 after acquiring an additional 636,008 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $179.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.12. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.40 and a 12-month high of $193.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 242,552 shares of company stock valued at $40,287,253 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.