Philadelphia Trust Co. Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Philadelphia Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,842 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,769 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.8% of Philadelphia Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Philadelphia Trust Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $1,551,533,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5,712.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $831,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,470,344,000 after buying an additional 3,189,592 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $159.40 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 50-day moving average of $170.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.89. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.71.

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.