Sigma Planning Corp Sells 43,202 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sigma Planning Corp lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 38.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 43,202 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.8% of Sigma Planning Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,864,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $400,103,000 after buying an additional 105,132 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 711,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $99,338,000 after acquiring an additional 179,437 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $722,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 768,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $107,362,000 after purchasing an additional 6,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,955 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $166.15 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.62. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.71 and a 52-week high of $174.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Wedbush increased their target price on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 253,209 shares of company stock worth $36,711,144 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Alphabet

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.