Emprise Bank Buys 1,764 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Emprise Bank increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.2% of Emprise Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Emprise Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Breakwater Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 4,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $983,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the third quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 3,817 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Towerpoint Wealth LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.6% in the third quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $315.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $328.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $301.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.51.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $290.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price objective on the stock. President Capital increased their target price on Alphabet from $258.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lifted their price target on Alphabet from $233.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,526,494.12. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 192,687 shares of company stock valued at $56,255,711. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.