Fiduciary Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Fiduciary Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 168,947 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 434 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.2% of Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 287.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.28 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.67 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $185.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents 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 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet 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.