New Century Financial Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

New Century Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 78.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,350 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 15,998 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $175.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,502,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,397,248. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.74.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Alphabet 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.