Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 432 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.8% of Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,606 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,353,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,032,321 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $196,595,000 after buying an additional 53,925 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $154.38 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 50-day simple moving average of $160.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. UBS Group reduced their price target on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.94.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,824 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.