Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Cut by Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC

Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,847 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 459 shares during the period. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,910,838,000 after acquiring an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 7.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,615,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,581,427,000 after buying an additional 757,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,451,718 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,278,910,000 after buying an additional 1,218,639 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $145.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.38 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. 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.