Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Sells 99 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 99,693 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 99 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.6% of Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position 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 valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised 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. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $170.56 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $181.72 and a 200-day moving average of $176.86. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % 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 worth $17,374,274 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.