First Financial Bank Trust Division Sells 5,411 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

First Financial Bank Trust Division reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,450 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,411 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.7% of First Financial Bank Trust Division’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. S&T Bank PA boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 40.2% in the 2nd quarter. S&T Bank PA now owns 345 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 77.6% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 348 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $365.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 11th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Loop Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Four equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.18.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5%

GOOGL opened at $306.57 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $328.83. The company has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $285.51 and a 200 day moving average of $231.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total transaction of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 190,250 shares of company stock valued at $52,387,348 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.