Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 153,784 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,751 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 3.5% of Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA's holdings in Alphabet were worth $23,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of GOOGL traded up $3.81 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $179.90. 23,046,734 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,181,786. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

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.