Morton Community Bank Invests $3.23 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Morton Community Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,070 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,231,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $5.50 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $165.06. The company had a trading volume of 28,552,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,889,569. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.22 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The business's 50-day moving average is $181.72 and its 200-day moving average is $176.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value 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. The trade was 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 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $210.59.

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.