Fairscale Capital LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Fairscale Capital LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.2% of Fairscale Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Fairscale Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 287.9% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $175.75 on Monday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.80 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.