Academy Capital Management Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Academy Capital Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 232,532 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,051 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 7.2% of Academy Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Academy Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $44,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. M&G PLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,240,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after buying an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,488,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $927,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $174.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $190.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.89.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.