Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,537,284 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 208,980 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.4% of American Century Companies Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,387,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Plancorp LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 11,268 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,146,000 after buying an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,324,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 15,580 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,967,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $85,901,000 after purchasing an additional 139,613 shares during the period. Finally, Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC now owns 7,841 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $166.25 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $184.37 and a 200-day moving average of $177.94. The company has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.