River Road Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 57.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,883 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 117,973 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

Alphabet stock opened at $165.98 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $138.21 and a one year high of $208.70. The business’s fifty day moving average is $188.87 and its 200 day moving average is $178.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,182 shares of company stock worth $18,192,354. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.