Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by West Paces Advisors Inc.

West Paces Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,043 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 244 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Totem Point Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 22.0% in the first quarter. Totem Point Management LLC now owns 3,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,857,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Somerville Kurt F grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.3% in the first quarter. Somerville Kurt F now owns 118 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,564,000. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 53.2% in the first quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 144 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 6.8% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 3,370 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,412,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James lifted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $159.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $157.46 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $103.27 and a one year high of $161.70. The company has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $147.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

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.