Western Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Western Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 86.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,212 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 82,433 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $413,555,306.40. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 112,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,722,605. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $170.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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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