Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 66.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,177 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 20,562 shares during the quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Hutchinson Capital Management CA raised its position in Alphabet by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,555 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Price Performance
NASDAQ GOOG traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $172.56. 12,347,197 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,146,811. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.42, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The firm's 50-day moving average is $160.86 and its 200-day moving average is $176.45.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Benchmark restated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.94.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Alphabet
Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet
In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's 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 $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Alphabet Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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