WFA Asset Management Corp Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

WFA Asset Management Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 59 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,144,172,000 after purchasing an additional 4,064,073 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after buying an additional 7,275,757 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,011,412,000 after acquiring an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,344,778,000 after acquiring an additional 597,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,274,184,000 after acquiring an additional 418,204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $172.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $165.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.13. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $127.90 and a one year high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,307,206.90. This represents a 35.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,126,319.10. This trade represents a 1.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,471,141. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.