Scott & Selber Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Scott & Selber Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 74,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 452 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 3.9% of Scott & Selber Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Scott & Selber Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 5th Street Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $545,000. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 66.2% during the third quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 26,156 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,373,000 after buying an additional 10,421 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 123,088 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,579,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,624,000 after acquiring an additional 5,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockbridge Investment Management LCC lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC now owns 3,342 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was 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 owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 242,552 shares of company stock worth $40,287,253. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $179.86 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $129.40 and a one year high of $193.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $164.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

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.