BankPlus Trust Department Takes $2.44 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 12,796 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,437,000. Alphabet accounts for 0.8% of BankPlus Trust Department’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 31,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,225,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 72,356 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,901,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 22,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,782,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 9,755 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,631,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.6 %

Alphabet stock opened at $170.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,188 shares of company stock worth $25,036,883 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

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.