First Interstate Bank Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

First Interstate Bank lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 75,160 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,463 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.8% of First Interstate Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meritage Group LP boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Armor Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 301.5% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 522 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $178.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays cut their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.71.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $159.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $146.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.06. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.63 and a 1-year high of $160.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

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.