WealthTrust Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

WealthTrust Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 18.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,818 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,969 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.0% of WealthTrust Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,490,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 73,282 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,873,000 after purchasing an additional 13,564 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.68.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $185.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $172.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 255,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,695,000. The trade was a 3.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.