Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,595 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 797 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $169.93 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $183.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.30. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.20 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.