Sowell Financial Services LLC Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sowell Financial Services LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,949 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 19,043 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.9% of Sowell Financial Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after purchasing an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,154,651,000 after buying an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after buying an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,615,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,581,427,000 after buying an additional 757,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,451,718 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,278,910,000 after buying an additional 1,218,639 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $163.99 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.38. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.22 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a 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%.

About Alphabet

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.