Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Cut by Aviso Wealth Management

Aviso Wealth Management cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 22.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,060 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 870 shares during the quarter. Aviso Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 22,040 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,685,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Blue Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,750 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after buying an additional 4,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elios Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $172.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.20 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $183.56 and its 200-day moving average is $178.44.

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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.