Bray Capital Advisors Sells 4,645 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Bray Capital Advisors reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 24.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,095 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,645 shares during the period. Bray Capital Advisors’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $181.58 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.45.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

About Alphabet

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.