Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 182,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,529 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.9% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 26,439 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,005,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,648,000. First Business Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 37,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,056,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 1,704,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $322,739,000 after purchasing an additional 14,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 37,288 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,059,000 after purchasing an additional 7,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $163.89 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. 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 1-year low of $146.74 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid 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 was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Ten 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

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.