American National Bank & Trust Co. VA Purchases New Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

American National Bank & Trust Co. VA purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 82,797 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,607,000. Alphabet makes up about 3.0% of American National Bank & Trust Co. VA’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,101,040,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,600,970,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 198.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,882,882 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $547,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583,128 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Alphabet by 93.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,591,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $647,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,950 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,246,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $187.39 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.83 and a 52-week high of $187.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $176.58 and its 200 day moving average is $157.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,288 shares of company stock valued at $25,345,053. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.