Umpqua Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Umpqua Bank raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,944 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,190 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 3.1% of Umpqua Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Umpqua Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Permanent Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in Alphabet by 27.9% during the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,192,000 after buying an additional 5,516 shares during the period. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 37,054 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,700,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $5.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $145.60. The stock had a trading volume of 62,123,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,597,046. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.38 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.81.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.13.

About Alphabet

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.