Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 99 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.4% of Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 61,587.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 130,046,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,539,004,000 after purchasing an additional 129,835,437 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1,807.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 57,069,444 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,487,226,000 after buying an additional 54,077,519 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $3,059,614,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $2,170,024,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 71,779,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,368,961,000 after buying an additional 19,612,974 shares in the last quarter. 27.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $138.96 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $83.45 and a 52 week high of $139.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $130.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.50.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $74.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 23.49%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $123.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $145.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, August 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $130.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 16,083 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total transaction of $1,934,945.73. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,028 shares in the company, valued at $15,282,738.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 16,083 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total transaction of $1,934,945.73. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,028 shares in the company, valued at $15,282,738.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 3,749 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.28, for a total transaction of $510,913.72. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,484,407.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,092 shares of company stock worth $12,221,941 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% 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, hardware, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.