J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,939 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,041 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.6% of J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $96,465,000 after acquiring an additional 20,855 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 343 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 8,539 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,427,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.40.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Alphabet
Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet
In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Alphabet Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $185.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $174.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.61. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.01.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.
Alphabet Company Profile
(
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.
Further Reading
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Alphabet, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Alphabet wasn't on the list.
While Alphabet currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Just getting into the stock market? These 10 simple stocks can help beginning investors build long-term wealth without knowing options, technicals, or other advanced strategies.
Get This Free Report
