Essex Bank Acquires 3,063 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Essex Bank grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 34,793 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,063 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.4% of Essex Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Essex Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynch Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,187,638.65. This represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $362.73.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google said it likely stopped a hacker group from using AI to plan a large-scale cyberattack, underscoring the strength of its cybersecurity capabilities and reducing the risk of a major breach. Reuters: Hackers pushing innovation in AI-enabled hacking operations, Google says
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary remained upbeat on Alphabet’s AI, cloud, and Gemini momentum, with some coverage arguing the company could challenge Nvidia as the world’s most valuable company. MSN: Alphabet could overtake Nvidia as world’s largest company
• Neutral Sentiment: Google Finance is expanding in Europe, adding another AI-focused product initiative, but this is more of a long-term growth story than an immediate stock-moving catalyst. PYMNTS: Google Finance Continues AI-Focused Expansion With EU Launch

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $386.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $157.58 and a 1-year high of $398.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $320.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $313.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.