Atticus Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,643 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Atticus Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,643 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.7% of Atticus Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Atticus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,980,354,000 after purchasing an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $15,441,917,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,316,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,043 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 874,919 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,408,933 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,247,868,000 after purchasing an additional 686,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total transaction of $113,668.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,764.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total value of $113,668.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,764.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 123,788 shares of company stock valued at $21,143,403 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $185.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.35 and a 52 week high of $186.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $173.38 and a 200-day moving average of $154.80.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.66.

Alphabet 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.