Marietta Investment Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Marietta Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,787 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 189 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 287.9% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $166.25 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $184.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.94. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.20 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.