JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 45.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 278,805 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 228,862 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.5% of JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $43,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Burt Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perritt Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6%

GOOGL stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $167.14. The stock had a trading volume of 14,658,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,661,879. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $159.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.47. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho dropped their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 163,270 shares of company stock worth $26,553,563. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company 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.