Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 288,796 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 50,534 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.5% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $54,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 287.9% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $166.25. The stock had a trading volume of 29,845,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,854,573. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's fifty day moving average is $184.37 and its 200 day moving average is $178.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.