Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Columbia Bank’s 10th Largest Position

Columbia Bank raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,560 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,031 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.6% of Columbia Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Columbia Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 17,667.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,686,640,000 after buying an additional 15,159,273 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 15.3% during the second quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.3% in the 2nd quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 23,827 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,199,000 after purchasing an additional 5,260 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,485,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 1,457,732 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,896,000 after purchasing an additional 65,439 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $288.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.65.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 226,128 shares of company stock worth $61,326,372. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $321.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $276.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.68, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.07. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Alphabet Company 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.