Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 353 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.0% of Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coleford Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $400,000. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 173,769 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,093,000 after buying an additional 15,028 shares during the period. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC now owns 7,768 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $361,000. Finally, KilterHowling LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 280.2% in the 4th quarter. KilterHowling LLC now owns 5,387 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 3,970 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $155.50 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $168.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.88.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business’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 owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This trade represents a 2.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 115,663 shares of company stock worth $20,286,447 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently 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.