Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Rockingstone Advisors LLC

Rockingstone Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,839 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 405 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.8% of Rockingstone Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Rockingstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $177.35 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $161.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change 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 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.