First Western Trust Bank Sells 3,611 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

First Western Trust Bank lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 66,627 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,611 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 0.5% of First Western Trust Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gimbal Financial increased its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gimbal Financial now owns 2,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 4,317 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 10,428 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total value of $9,640,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,304,619 shares in the company, valued at $683,642,180.16. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total transaction of $32,681.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,253,567.20. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 225,174 shares of company stock worth $58,095,223 over the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $323.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.20. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $328.83.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $290.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Capital raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $224.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citic Securities increased their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.84.

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.