West Paces Advisors Inc. Sells 288 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

West Paces Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,582 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 288 shares during the quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M. Kraus & Co raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the first quarter. M. Kraus & Co now owns 6,267 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the first quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Aire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthCare Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $183.88 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $171.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.35 and a 1-year high of $184.51.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $196.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.69.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total transaction of $3,502,575.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,325,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,012,608.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 146,284 shares of company stock valued at $24,534,393. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.