WestEnd Advisors LLC Sells 110,628 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

WestEnd Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 47.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 124,694 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 110,628 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $23,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth 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 period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Denver PWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Ten investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 67,029 shares of company stock valued at $12,625,003. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $183.77 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $193.05 and its 200-day moving average is $175.30. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.66 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 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 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.