River Road Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

River Road Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,282 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,200 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $155.72 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.27 and a 12 month high of $161.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $147.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.86.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.