Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 31.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,919 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 88,665 shares of company stock worth $16,198,310. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.65.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $158.88 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.20 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $179.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.70. 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 posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.