Montecito Bank & Trust Buys 9,648 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Montecito Bank & Trust boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 22.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,047 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,648 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.5% of Montecito Bank & Trust's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Montecito Bank & Trust's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. New Hampshire Trust grew its position in Alphabet by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its position in Alphabet by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,037,196,000 after acquiring an additional 611,233 shares in the last quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,567,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $175.98 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.90 and a 52 week high of $191.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $167.23 and a 200-day moving average of $170.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total value of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 184,295 shares of company stock valued at $30,698,791. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.90.

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.