Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,210 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 5.5% of Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Sunburst Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% during the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 8,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the third quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. This represents a 1.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 153,053 shares of company stock worth $27,559,701. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $192.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $202.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $184.55 and a 200-day moving average of $174.49.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

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.