Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,914 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,660 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.1% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $281,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 140.6% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,734 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,806,000 after acquiring an additional 8,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $927,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.94.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of GOOG stock traded down $1.17 on Wednesday, hitting $160.89. 20,452,435 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,202,988. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $162.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.