KLCM Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

KLCM Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 29.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,834 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,046 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,798,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 6,977 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Kaye Capital Management grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kaye Capital Management now owns 6,827 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 109,121 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,098,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 111,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,528,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Ten equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was 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, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 134,309 shares of company stock worth $25,057,490. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $170.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.66 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $190.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.