Westover Capital Advisors LLC Trims Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 97,730 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 988 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 4.1% of Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $164.29 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s 50 day moving average is $185.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.58. The company has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.08 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend 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 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

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

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.