TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co Purchases 248 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.8% of TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.76.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $245.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $220.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $256.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, analysts predict 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, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 953 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total value of $229,863.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,171,312.80. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.