Clayton Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Clayton Partners LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,255 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 82 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.3% of Clayton Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Clayton Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.8 %

GOOG stock opened at $167.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $141.13 and a one year high of $208.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $187.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.00. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, 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 transaction of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.