Verdence Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 25.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,246 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 16,299 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.7% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 287.9% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Shares of GOOG traded up $1.54 on Friday, reaching $175.75. 16,380,548 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,844,773. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.80 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $189.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.94.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.
Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.13.
Read Our Latest Report on GOOG
In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
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.
Before you consider Alphabet, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Alphabet wasn't on the list.
While Alphabet currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.