Appleton Partners Inc. MA Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Appleton Partners Inc. MA cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,036 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $245.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $228.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.86. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $256.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $270.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 243,838 shares of company stock valued at $53,070,333. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company 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.