Griffin Asset Management Inc. Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,760 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 149,019 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823 shares in the last quarter. Warner Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Acorn Creek Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 6,551 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,248,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 55,172 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,507,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 3,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.69.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 121,630 shares of company stock worth $22,258,133 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $202.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $203.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

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.