Baxter Bros Inc. Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Baxter Bros Inc. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,524 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,754 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.7% of Baxter Bros Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Baxter Bros Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its position in Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson raised their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.10.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock traded down $2.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $144.70. 52,057,119 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,918,525. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

Alphabet Company 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.