RPG Investment Advisory LLC Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

RPG Investment Advisory LLC lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,138 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 280 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.2% of RPG Investment Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. RPG Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after buying an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 31,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,225,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 72,356 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,901,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 22,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,782,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 9,755 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,631,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $170.21 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. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $192.59 and its 200 day moving average is $177.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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 forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,188 shares of company stock worth $25,036,883 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet 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.