Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,336,919 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 87,143 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.0% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $206,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $413,555,306.40. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $1.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $174.67. The company had a trading volume of 27,636,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,440,616. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $162.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.64. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 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%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given 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 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.