Essex Savings Bank Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Essex Savings Bank reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 32,869 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.5% of Essex Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet 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 transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at $369,672,512.16. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $194.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $202.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

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.