Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Global Assets Advisory LLC

Global Assets Advisory LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,089 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $281,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 140.6% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,734 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,806,000 after buying an additional 8,610 shares during the period. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $927,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $154.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $160.96 and a 200-day moving average of $176.85. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,824 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total transaction of $529,302.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.94.

Alphabet 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.