WealthTrust Axiom LLC Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,245 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Defined Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 16,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,331,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.9 %

Alphabet stock opened at $171.25 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $151.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.16 and a 52 week high of $174.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Redburn Atlantic boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 252,629 shares of company stock worth $37,091,240. Company insiders own 0.88% 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.