Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,110,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 290,020 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.4% of ING Groep NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $211,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $181.58 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $194.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio 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.