Advisory Resource Group Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Advisory Resource Group lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,557 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,720 shares during the period. Advisory Resource Group’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Forbes J M & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 16,729 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. Strid Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $165,000. American Capital Advisory LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 13,652 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 12,685 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 84,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,166,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $187.07 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $193.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.27.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.