Pecaut & CO. Has $12.86 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Pecaut & CO. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 67,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,323 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 4.4% of Pecaut & CO.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Pecaut & CO.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 57,810 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $165.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.01 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $184.91 and its 200 day moving average is $177.93.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GOOG. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.