Fisher Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Fisher Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,508,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 80,406 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $477,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after buying an additional 51,226 shares during the last quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 13,456 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,250,000 after buying an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10,976.6% in the 3rd quarter. GFS Advisors LLC now owns 35,556 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,945,000 after buying an additional 35,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 547,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $90,010,000 after buying an additional 54,262 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $168.66 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $191.63 and its 200 day moving average is $177.88. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, 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 quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

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.