Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Southeast Asset Advisors LLC

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 20.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 451,823 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 118,161 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 10.6% of Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $86,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after buying an additional 14,738 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $927,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,184,399 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,384,039,000 after buying an additional 704,875 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value 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 $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $147.74 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $177.04 and a 200-day moving average of $178.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $143.70 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Alphabet Company 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.