Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 515,404 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,213 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 3.8% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $71,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 61,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,591,000 after purchasing an additional 4,664 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.6% in the third quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 15,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the period. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% in the third quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,623 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $998,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,416,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $577,908,000 after purchasing an additional 104,366 shares during the period. Finally, NatWest Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 239.0% in the fourth quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 100,793 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,080,000 after purchasing an additional 71,057 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $154.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. 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 fifty-two week low of $102.63 and a fifty-two week high of $160.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $146.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.54.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% 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.