Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA

Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 935 shares during the quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised 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 acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $175.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.80 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887 in the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.