Sheets Smith Wealth Management Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 99.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 104 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 11,496 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 400 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.08% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $136.38 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $83.34 and a 52-week high of $138.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. Alphabet had a return on equity of 23.49% and a net margin of 21.05%. The business had revenue of $74.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 16,083 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total transaction of $1,934,945.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 127,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,282,738.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 16,083 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total value of $1,934,945.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 127,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,282,738.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 16,031 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.98, for a total transaction of $240,144.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,020 shares of company stock valued at $13,551,820 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Alphabet from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Alphabet from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $123.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Monday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.89.

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, hardware, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.