Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Trims Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 166,925 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 64,164 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 10.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.5% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 376,816 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,637,000 after purchasing an additional 16,253 shares during the last quarter. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 50.0% during the second quarter. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC now owns 19,221 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,517,000 after purchasing an additional 6,404 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 16.6% during the second quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,823 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.1% during the second quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 37,951 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,913,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 5.6 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $185.17 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $169.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.68 and a 52-week high of $191.75. The company has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 197,923 shares of company stock valued at $34,244,676. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.03.

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.