WealthTrust Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

WealthTrust Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,787 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 452 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.5% of WealthTrust Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bennett Selby Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $162.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $180.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.68. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $147.22 and a one year high of $207.05. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. 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.