Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,153 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Ten investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade 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 87,992 shares of company stock valued at $16,093,773. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $154.64 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.22 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $178.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.