Global Assets Advisory LLC Trims Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Global Assets Advisory LLC reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,894 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 478 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.6% of Global Assets Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Global Assets Advisory LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,741,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,816,000 after buying an additional 14,262 shares in the last quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Permanent Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $152.75 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $158.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total value of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,652,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,555,306.40. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,824 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total transaction of $529,302.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.