Equitable Trust Co. Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Equitable Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 256,509 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,589 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.7% of Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $48,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Denver PWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $66,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %

Alphabet stock traded down $4.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $179.66. 35,094,289 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,166,218. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The business's 50-day moving average price is $192.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.