Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC Has $1.07 Billion Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,635,935 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 358,011 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 12.1% of Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,073,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, 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 transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $156.06 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.31. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $148.20 and a one year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 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.