HighMark Wealth Management LLC Sells 100 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

HighMark Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. HighMark Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 211,036 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,190,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. GAM Holding AG increased its position in Alphabet by 1,050.7% during the 4th quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 20,391 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 18,619 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,808 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares in the last quarter. Northstar Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Northstar Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,686 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 288,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,982,000 after buying an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $181.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $194.02 and a 200-day moving average of $177.22. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.