Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,292 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,867 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 3.6% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its position in Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its stake in Alphabet by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,816,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.0%

Alphabet stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $178.58. 10,064,828 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,419,599. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.20. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total value of $5,553,275.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,620,196 shares in the company, valued at $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 183,143 shares of company stock worth $30,529,028 over the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.95.

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.