West Paces Advisors Inc. Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

West Paces Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,043 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 244 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. DC Investments Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $115,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $184,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. raised its position in Alphabet by 10.8% in the first quarter. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. now owns 82 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the period. qPULA Trading Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $279,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its position in Alphabet by 29.2% in the first quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 115 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $157.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $103.27 and a 1-year high of $161.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $147.35 and a 200-day moving average of $141.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.86.

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.