Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $2.60 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,454 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First National Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 21,432 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,020,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $584,000. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 100,433 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,154,000 after purchasing an additional 8,182 shares in the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 6,274 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $884,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Fin Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 30,633 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,317,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.67.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $168.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 22,767,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,353,938. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $104.70 and a one year high of $176.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $151.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,548,095.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.