Tower Bridge Advisors Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Tower Bridge Advisors cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 201,154 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,823 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.1% of Tower Bridge Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $38,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $168.66 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $191.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Scotiabank upped their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” 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 research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’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 value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.