Charter Research & Investment Group Inc. Sells 1,415 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Charter Research & Investment Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,680 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,415 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.0% of Charter Research & Investment Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Charter Research & Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased 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. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 4.9 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $156.06 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $148.20 and a one year high of $208.70. 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 market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.51.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction 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 $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979. 12.99% of the stock is owned by 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.