Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,513 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,176 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.8% of Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Citigroup upped their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,126,319.10. This represents a 1.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,765,168.06. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $172.49 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.90 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $165.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.