Wade Financial Advisory Inc Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wade Financial Advisory Inc trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,282 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 741 shares during the period. Wade Financial Advisory Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.95.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $191.33 on Thursday. 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 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.