Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Trimmed by First Hawaiian Bank

First Hawaiian Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,320 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,151 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 0.9% of First Hawaiian Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burt Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $172.36 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $159.04 and its 200 day moving average is $174.73. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet 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.