SWS Partners Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

SWS Partners decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 721 shares during the period. SWS Partners’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7 %

GOOGL opened at $164.29 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $146.08 and a one year high of $207.05. 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’s fifty day moving average is $185.05 and its 200-day moving average is $176.58. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio 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.