Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 29,568 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 351,329 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 29,568 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.1% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $54,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Burt Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,005,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Perritt Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.3%

Alphabet stock opened at $173.68 on Monday. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $160.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.38. The company has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average 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.

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