Aureus Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Aureus Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,876 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 366 shares during the period. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $37,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its position in Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The trade was a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $170.49 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.40 and a 1 year high of $193.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.82. The company has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

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.