Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Simmons Bank

Simmons Bank decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 98,295 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 267 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.4% of Simmons Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% in the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. WD Rutherford LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 31,715 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,260,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 28.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,318 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $716,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% during the third quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 12,768 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,118,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,131,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush lifted their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $164.04 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $187.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.55. The company has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.03 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

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.