Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 156,252 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,463 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 2.6% of Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $29,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $154.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.72.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

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.