Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Parthenon LLC

Parthenon LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,891 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 455 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 3.2% of Parthenon LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $26,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $181.58 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.55 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.34. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

About Alphabet

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.