Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 11,330 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 7.7% of Wittenberg Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Astra Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $597,000. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,430 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the period. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $114,000. Resolute Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $688,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,787 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.65.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $152.63 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.20 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $178.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 87,297 shares of company stock valued at $15,936,270 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently 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.