Trust Co of the South Buys 898 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Trust Co of the South lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 19.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 898 shares during the quarter. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 7,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $237,000. Michael S. Ryan Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.6% during the second quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. now owns 2,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. now owns 33,315 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,871,000 after purchasing an additional 4,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norway Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 37,017 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $240.80 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $242.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $201.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.44.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.