Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Washington Trust Bank

Washington Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,539 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after buying an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 57,810 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $166.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.20 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $184.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.94.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

About Alphabet

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.