WASHINGTON TRUST Co Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,285 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,030 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC now owns 70,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,068,000 after purchasing an additional 4,111 shares during the period. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,395 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,499,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodward Diversified Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 8,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,303,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $279.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $257.00 and its 200 day moving average is $208.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $292.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.81.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total transaction of $32,681.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,253,567.20. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was 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 directly owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at $662,526,494.12. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 221,796 shares of company stock worth $53,983,001 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.