Wambolt & Associates LLC Has $7.11 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Wambolt & Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 37,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,126 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.3% of Wambolt & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Momentous Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $708,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,115 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Aire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 12,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Bay Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $500,000. Finally, Potentia Wealth bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $986,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $169.93 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $183.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.30. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.20 and a 1 year high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

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.