Patten Group Inc. Sells 2,245 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Patten Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,245 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of Patten Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 27.9% in the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,516 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.9% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 61,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,206,000 after acquiring an additional 11,481 shares during the period. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,164 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,385,000 after purchasing an additional 4,285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Ten 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $164.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.58. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.08 and a twelve month high of $207.05. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.