Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,781 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 322 shares during the quarter. Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8 %

Alphabet stock opened at $167.62 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.13 and a 12 month high of $208.70. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.