Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 61,353 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 975 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.8% of Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,857,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416,328 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,035,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,453,856,000 after purchasing an additional 335,219 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 7.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,064,614 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,279,955,000 after buying an additional 1,809,910 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 24,145,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,159,669,000 after buying an additional 2,058,221 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.82.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.54 and a 52-week high of $174.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $147.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet 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.