GPM Growth Investors Inc. Sells 1,568 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

GPM Growth Investors Inc. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 85,044 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,568 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 6.8% of GPM Growth Investors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. GPM Growth Investors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,171,151,000 after purchasing an additional 6,157,413 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $513,024,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Alphabet by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,064,598 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,669,300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136,128 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush upped their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $163.99. 36,577,258 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,884,571. The company has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company's 50 day moving average is $182.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% 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.