Cornerstone Advisory LLC Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Cornerstone Advisory LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,776 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 9,558 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.5% of Cornerstone Advisory LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Cornerstone Advisory LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its position 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. Finally, Burt Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL traded down $2.40 on Monday, reaching $168.47. The company had a trading volume of 35,166,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,747,753. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $158.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.83.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten investment 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

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.