St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Sells 2,855 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,316 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,855 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.7% of St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,980,354,000 after purchasing an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,441,917,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,857,154,000 after buying an additional 2,416,328 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,316,902,000 after buying an additional 1,472,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,910,194 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,876,605,000 after buying an additional 874,919 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,727 shares in the company, valued at $663,107.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total transaction of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $663,107.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $392,588,151.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,284 shares of company stock valued at $24,534,393 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $185.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.35 and a fifty-two week high of $186.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $171.70 and a 200-day moving average of $153.58.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.69.

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.