Mengis Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,989 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 65,568 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,989 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.6% of Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,188 shares of company stock valued at $25,036,883 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $170.21 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $192.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.