WESPAC Advisors LLC Trims Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

WESPAC Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,231 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 371 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares in the last quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 10.0% during the third quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,119 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,875,000 after purchasing an additional 3,737 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 8.5% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 116,039 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,401,000 after purchasing an additional 9,118 shares in the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 5.7% during the third quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. now owns 4,851 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 18,921 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,163,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.1 %

GOOG stock opened at $177.37 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.55 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751. 12.99% of the stock is owned by 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.