Gradient Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,619 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 225 shares during the period. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,852,868,000 after buying an additional 4,348,188 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 11.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,269,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,550,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,060 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,744,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,658,122,000 after buying an additional 92,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 19,822,203 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,613,557,000 after acquiring an additional 390,118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $157.95 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.27 and a 52-week high of $161.70. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $147.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Susquehanna upped their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. 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 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Alphabet

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.