Citizens Business Bank Sells 1,444 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Citizens Business Bank lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 60,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,444 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 2.0% of Citizens Business Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Citizens Business Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 87.5% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Armor Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $185.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.17. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.35 and a 12-month high of $186.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total transaction of $113,668.94. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,764.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 123,788 shares of company stock valued at $21,143,403. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.66.

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.