Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.1% of Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. West Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Flywheel Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV increased its position in Alphabet by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 9,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares during the period. Finally, Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %

Alphabet stock opened at $196.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.66 and a fifty-two week high of $201.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $184.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,516,745.58. This represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.