Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Sells 66,678 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 618,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 66,678 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.1% of Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $117,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Liberty Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,762 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,002,000 after purchasing an additional 4,492 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 10,590 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the period. Austin Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,951 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $521,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in Alphabet by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 60,745 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,568,000 after acquiring an additional 9,916 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,682 shares of company stock valued at $17,901,024. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $169.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.01 and a 1-year high of $208.70. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.