Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Lowered by Marion Wealth Management

Marion Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,166 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 0.9% of Marion Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Marion Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $169.73 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $159.10 and a 200 day moving average of $174.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 164,533 shares of company stock valued at $26,772,774. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

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.