Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Lessened by SlateStone Wealth LLC

SlateStone Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,902 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,002 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.2% of SlateStone Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Meritage Group LP increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 165.8% in the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its holdings in Alphabet by 301.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 522 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $162.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.71 and a 1 year high of $174.71. The business’s fifty day moving average is $148.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 253,289 shares of company stock valued at $36,724,534. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. 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 note on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.74.

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.