Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 39,805 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,705 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 4.3% of Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Veracity Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in Alphabet by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,730,000 after acquiring an additional 11,646 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 15,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 4,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 7,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 146,284 shares of company stock valued at $24,534,393. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $186.27. The company had a trading volume of 2,982,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,151,895. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $173.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.83 and a 52-week high of $187.50.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Alphabet 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.