Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc’s 7th Largest Position

Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 220 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.6% of Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Denver PWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. The trade was a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.67.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $197.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $185.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.66 and a twelve month high of $202.29.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.