Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Provident Trust Co.

Provident Trust Co. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,474,044 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 22,759 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 11.5% of Provident Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Provident Trust Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $661,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 32.3% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Wallington Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.5% in the third quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 83,004 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,877,000 after purchasing an additional 4,312 shares during the period. McAdam LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% in the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 8,785 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Counsel Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.2% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 111,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,696,000 after purchasing an additional 6,549 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $181.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.55 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $194.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.