Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 15,453 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 723,005 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 15,453 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.9% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $127,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Beddow Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Gimbal Financial lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the second quarter. Gimbal Financial now owns 2,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Silver Coast Investments LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 4,317 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $761,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Berkeley Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. North Berkeley Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Arete Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.22.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $309.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $328.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $283.14 and a 200 day moving average of $229.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total transaction of $10,383,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,272,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $725,942,020.50. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total value of $32,401.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,750,916.64. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 226,128 shares of company stock worth $61,326,372. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.