Argent Advisors Inc. Sells 283 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Argent Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,510 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 283 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $927,000. Stevens Capital Management LP increased its position in Alphabet by 172.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 57,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,032,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $172,620,000 after purchasing an additional 316,674 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6 %

GOOG opened at $166.57 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $186.78 and its 200 day moving average is $178.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.