Emprise Bank Invests $1.85 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Emprise Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 12,227 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,000. Alphabet accounts for about 1.2% of Emprise Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Meritage Group LP lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Armor Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2 %

GOOGL stock opened at $175.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.35 and a fifty-two week high of $180.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.28 and a 200-day moving average of $151.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total value of $1,826,979.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,717 shares in the company, valued at $7,365,523.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,958 shares of company stock worth $22,383,553. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James upped their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.26.

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.