Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Has $3.91 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 36.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 22,175 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 12,839 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.3% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total value of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total value of $149,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,799.04. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $226.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.49. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $256.00. The company has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.88.

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.