Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Position Lowered by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 468,441 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,198 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 4.1% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $89,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction 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 approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $199.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.47, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.06. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $203.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.