Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Boosted by Provident Trust Co.

Provident Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,476,456 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 36,190 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 10.4% of Provident Trust Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Provident Trust Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $576,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $164.76 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.36. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $127.90 and a one year high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $217.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.90.

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.