CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 283,546 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,852 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.2% of CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $49,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% during the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $299.66 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $262.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $306.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $3,629,725.80. This represents a 16.06% 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, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 225,174 shares of company stock valued at $58,095,223 over the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Alphabet from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.33.

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.