Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,119 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 322 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.3% of Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,445,000. Cynosure Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 42.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 3,861 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 182.1% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $422,331,000 after buying an additional 1,630,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 37.0% during the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,465,588 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $245,032,000 after buying an additional 396,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $167.14 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.20 and a 12-month high of $208.70. 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 (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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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