Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by South Street Advisors LLC

South Street Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,015 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. South Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clarity Wealth Development LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $486,000. PDS Planning Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 34,948 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,656,000 after purchasing an additional 3,447 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 15,977 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,979 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,805,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RD Lewis Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,287,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.57 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.01 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $186.78 and a 200-day moving average of $178.12. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.