Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Holdings Lifted by Moody National Bank Trust Division

Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,403 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.9% of Moody National Bank Trust Division’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 25,146 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,929,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 411.1% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 13,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,035,000 after acquiring an additional 10,479 shares during the last quarter. JT Stratford LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% during the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.8% during the first quarter. Heritage Financial Services LLC now owns 5,754 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank set a $336.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.04.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $592,760,192.85. This trade represents a 1.35% 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 228,906 shares of company stock valued at $63,984,117. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $298.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $328.67.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 8.28%.

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.