Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Cut by Fortis Advisors LLC

Fortis Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,492 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.2% of Fortis Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Fortis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. MayTech Global Investments LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC now owns 219,439 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,249,000 after buying an additional 5,052 shares during the last quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $225,000. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.1% during the second quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,789 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 124,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,795,000 after acquiring an additional 10,896 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 2,075,202 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $380,634,000 after purchasing an additional 7,351 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total transaction of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. This trade represents a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 130,553 shares of company stock worth $23,817,951. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GOOG. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $191.05 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $202.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.55.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

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.