Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,783 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Meritage Group LP increased its stake in Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 165.8% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its stake in Alphabet by 301.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 522 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $158.26 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.93. The company has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.29, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.63 and a 12-month high of $160.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.71.

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.