Central Securities Corp Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Central Securities Corp trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 475,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 7.2% of Central Securities Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Central Securities Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $66,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,645,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 16,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,331,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.57.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $174.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.35 and a 12 month high of $178.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $160.81 and a 200-day moving average of $146.81. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 205,935 shares of company stock worth $31,178,987 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.