Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Reduced by CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,271,333 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 170,479 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.5% of CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $834,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,445,000. Martingale Asset Management L P purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $505,000. Circle Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the third quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 77,972 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,036,000 after purchasing an additional 5,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% during the third quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 7,444 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $156.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.20 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $181.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.51.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.