Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 482,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,389 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.5% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $67,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $159.86.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $155.72 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.27 and a 1 year high of $161.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $147.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.97.

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