Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 682 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ritholtz Wealth Management cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,402 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 682 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.5% of Ritholtz Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 61,587.1% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 130,046,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,539,004,000 after acquiring an additional 129,835,437 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,852,868,000 after purchasing an additional 4,348,188 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,649,838,000 after purchasing an additional 9,703,425 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 71,779,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,368,961,000 after purchasing an additional 19,612,974 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,269,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,550,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,060 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.78, for a total transaction of $3,347,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,310,191 shares in the company, valued at $343,710,216.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.78, for a total value of $3,347,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,310,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,710,216.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 251,138 shares of company stock valued at $35,427,655. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $146.33.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $152.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.39. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.29 and a 52-week high of $155.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.