Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Vestor Capital LLC

Vestor Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 42.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 191,193 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 142,386 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 2.8% of Vestor Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $36,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 462,966 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $77,403,000 after acquiring an additional 12,818 shares during the period. Finally, L & S Advisors Inc lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 9,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” 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 issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.25 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $184.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.