Key Financial Inc Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Financial Inc reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,231 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after purchasing an additional 12,070,681 shares in the last quarter. 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,064,614 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,279,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 24,145,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,159,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058,221 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Redburn Atlantic upped their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.71.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $156.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.63 and a 12-month high of $160.22. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.