Intrust Bank NA Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Intrust Bank NA lowered its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 50,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 402 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.0% of Intrust Bank NA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $1,445,000. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% in the third quarter. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC now owns 12,764 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $505,000. Finally, Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $156.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.20 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.31.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.56.

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.