Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Washington Trust Bank

Washington Trust Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,449 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 734 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% during the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 552,820 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $98,065,000 after buying an additional 20,945 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,853,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $722,000. Andra AP fonden boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 251,400 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,596,000 after purchasing an additional 10,700 shares during the period. Finally, Black Swift Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $293,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $279.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $251.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.14. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $291.93.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank set a $336.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total transaction of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total value of $32,681.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,004 shares in the company, valued at $5,253,567.20. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 222,396 shares of company stock valued at $54,105,275. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.