Lountzis Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Lountzis Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,720 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 340 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.5% of Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 19,497 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,713,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,073,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,902,642 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $552,779,000 after buying an additional 274,466 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 19,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,666,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $181.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $194.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.45.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

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.