Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.3% of Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 43,005.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,086,250,000 after buying an additional 18,700,111 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 587.4% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,991,000 after buying an additional 9,135,056 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 116.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,437,957,000 after buying an additional 4,662,809 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after buying an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 115.4% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,939,456 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,264,022,000 after buying an additional 3,718,420 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $195.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $187.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.69. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $202.29.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.82.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,887 shares of company stock worth $22,470,464 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.