Trust Co. of Vermont Raises Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 379,163 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,176 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.5% of Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings in Alphabet were worth $72,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %

GOOG stock opened at $197.55 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $202.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business's 50 day moving average price is $185.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.85. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $200.56.

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.