Barrett & Company Inc. Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Barrett & Company Inc. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 51.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,220 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,600 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Denver PWM LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 15,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 7,433 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,407,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $185.23 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.66 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

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.