WNY Asset Management LLC Sells 3,211 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

WNY Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,465 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,211 shares during the period. WNY Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,395,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hutchinson Capital Management CA grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,555 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $4.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $173.98. 24,291,303 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,134,876. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $160.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.94.

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.