First National Advisers LLC Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

First National Advisers LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,558 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 158 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of First National Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $162.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were 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 owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.