Hilton Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Hilton Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,470 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 161 shares during the period. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $225,000. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 11,015 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,098,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the period. Postrock Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $5,283,000. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. now owns 105,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,178,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 79,071 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,058,000 after acquiring an additional 3,898 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $164.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 50-day moving average of $187.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.13 and a 1-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, topping 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.