Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 20,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 261 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.2% of Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,490,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $154,716,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $178.60 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $161.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total value of $5,483,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,587,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $436,570,192.16. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $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 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.