Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Tufton Capital Management’s 3rd Largest Position

Tufton Capital Management lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 111,023 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,140 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.3% of Tufton Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Advisors Network Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. now owns 82 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 252 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Somerville Kurt F grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Somerville Kurt F now owns 118 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,301,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $155.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.27 and a 52 week high of $161.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $147.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.