Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 71,584 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 968 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.0% of Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated 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 issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was 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 valued at $17,374,274 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.20 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.