CPA Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

CPA Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,060 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,380 shares during the quarter. CPA Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. FMR LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,193,768,000 after buying an additional 5,655,022 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,247,208,000 after acquiring an additional 259,213 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,573,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113,395 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,578,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $172.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,309 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,490 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.