HighMark Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

HighMark Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 211,036 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,190,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,050.7% in the fourth quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 20,391 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 18,619 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,808 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Northstar Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Northstar Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,686 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 288,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $54,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $181.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $194.02 and a 200 day moving average of $177.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $208.70.

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, 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.