Trust Co of the South Raises Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Trust Co of the South boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 35.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the quarter. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,303 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Denver PWM LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. SK Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $331,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMS Capital Management increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 13,708 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,274,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $0.47 on Thursday, reaching $188.83. The stock had a trading volume of 13,178,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,460,176. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $179.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total transaction of $247,425.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,342,143.80. This represents a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,588 shares of company stock worth $24,473,081. 11.55% of the stock is currently 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.