Clayton Partners LLC Sells 82 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Clayton Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,255 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 82 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 3.3% of Clayton Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Clayton Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 287.9% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,882 shares of company stock worth $17,934,130 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.8 %

Alphabet stock opened at $167.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $187.41 and a 200 day moving average of $178.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.13 and a 12-month 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Oppenheimer upped 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.