Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Essex Savings Bank

Essex Savings Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.2% of Essex Savings Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $218,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 610.4% during the second quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 411,936 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,034,000 after buying an additional 353,949 shares in the last quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 5.6% during the second quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $196.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company 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.