Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Sells 320 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,715 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 15,977 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,043,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,979 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,805,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,287,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 120,789 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $526,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6 %

Alphabet stock opened at $166.57 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $186.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $147.01 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

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.