Centric Wealth Management Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Centric Wealth Management decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,143 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $158.71 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 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 results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. UBS Group set a $190.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Westpark Capital upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.97.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.