Walker Asset Management LLC Sells 94 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Walker Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Aire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 16,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,331,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $3.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $179.43. 16,726,709 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,691,092. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $169.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.35 and a fifty-two week high of $180.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total value of $3,502,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,325,513 shares in the company, valued at $362,012,608.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total transaction of $3,502,575.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,325,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,012,608.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,727 shares in the company, valued at $663,107.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,958 shares of company stock valued at $22,383,553. Company 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.