Winthrop Advisory Group LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Winthrop Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,485 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the period. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $2.37 on Monday, reaching $189.67. 5,715,228 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,596,787. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $182.62 and a 200-day moving average of $172.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.15.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $473,929.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,406,343.27. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 154,387 shares of company stock valued at $27,748,931. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.