Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Rockland Trust Co.’s 3rd Largest Position

Rockland Trust Co. boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 420,032 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,989 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.0% of Rockland Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $79,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 19.0% during the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $192.91 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $183.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.20. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.15.

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.