Ledyard National Bank Sells 2,834 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ledyard National Bank cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 40,212 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,834 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Leo Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 30,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,739,000 after buying an additional 7,918 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,669 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $889,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 12,214 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after buying an additional 4,132 shares during the last quarter. Citrine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $606,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 115,968 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,085,000 after buying an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $188.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.14. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. 12.99% 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.