Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Purchased by Bell Bank

Bell Bank raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,726 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Bell Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third 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 during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 56,210 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,398,000 after buying an additional 1,103 shares during the last quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 16.4% during the third quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 7,193 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15,926.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 594,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $99,463,000 after acquiring an additional 591,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 28,076 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,694,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $181.19 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.55 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.