Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Holdings Cut by Ashburton Jersey Ltd

Ashburton Jersey Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 52.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,119 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 66,072 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 5.1% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $147.74 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.43. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.54 and a 12 month 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 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.