Sard Wealth Management Group LLC Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sard Wealth Management Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Sard Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Denver PWM LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total transaction of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. This represents a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.15.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $196.00 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $201.42. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $184.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

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.