Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. Sells 433 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 62,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 433 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 7.3% of Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $5.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $196.87. 28,339,390 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,960,061. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $180.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.46. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $201.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total transaction of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,342,143.80. This represents a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.82.

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.