Avantra Family Wealth Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Avantra Family Wealth Inc. cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 464 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.2% of Avantra Family Wealth Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Avantra Family Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Burt Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Perritt Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nia Impact Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,249,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $170.68 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s fifty day moving average is $165.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 216,306 shares of company stock worth $35,782,927 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.17.

Alphabet Profile

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.