Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Holdings Decreased by WJ Wealth Management LLC

WJ Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,518 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,766 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.7% of WJ Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. WJ Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $3,179,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 55.1% in the fourth quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 5,365 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,958 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,657,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on GOOG. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $187.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

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.