Estabrook Capital Management Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Estabrook Capital Management reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,105 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,130 shares during the quarter. Estabrook Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $146.58 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $174.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.65.

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.