Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by US Asset Management LLC

US Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 334 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.4% of US Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. US Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BIP Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $592,000. Breakthru Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $855,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 35,481 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,837,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $274,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC now owns 6,738 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $171.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $160.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.63.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,722,605 in the last three months. 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.