Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,484 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,936 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.6% of Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1%

GOOGL stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $168.21. The stock had a trading volume of 34,550,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,080,149. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company's 50 day moving average is $159.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.43. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. DZ Bank cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.