Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Decreased by NFC Investments LLC

NFC Investments LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 117,881 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 979 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 6.2% of NFC Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. NFC Investments LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $278,000. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Signature Wealth Management Group raised its stake in Alphabet by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 10,951 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 48,802 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,294,000 after acquiring an additional 991 shares during the period. Finally, First National Advisers LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 96,328 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,345,000 after acquiring an additional 5,218 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $167.62 on Monday. 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 $141.13 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock 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. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $187.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research 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 assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.