Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Position Decreased by Rodgers Brothers Inc.

Rodgers Brothers Inc. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,213 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Rodgers Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,247,208,000 after buying an additional 259,213 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,870,181,000 after purchasing an additional 875,480 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,483,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,516,000 after purchasing an additional 144,170 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

GOOG stock opened at $156.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $181.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.20 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.56.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 87,992 shares of company stock worth $16,097,111 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.