Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Lowered by Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,353,273 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 50,075 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.1% of Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $256,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574,417 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Alphabet by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,744 shares of company stock valued at $20,968,366 over the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

GOOGL opened at $166.54 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $158.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.00. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.