Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Scott & Selber Inc.

Scott & Selber Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,697 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 4.2% of Scott & Selber Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Scott & Selber Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Swedbank AB grew its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares during the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 50.5% during the third quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,908 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 1,646 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.4% during the third quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 26,145 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,371,000 after buying an additional 1,812 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 1,055,056 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $176,395,000 after acquiring an additional 3,758 shares during the period. Finally, Arista Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $174.99 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.91. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.95 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.