Sunbelt Securities Inc. Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Sunbelt Securities Inc. decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,367 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 745 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.8% of Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth 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, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Alphabet by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, DZ Bank cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Alphabet

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $170.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, 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. Shareholders 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at $413,555,306.40. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,054 shares of company stock worth $17,722,605 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

(Free Report)

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.

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