Everstar Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Everstar Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 27.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,321 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 899 shares during the period. Everstar Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $156.06 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.20 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $181.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 87,992 shares of company stock worth $16,097,111. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.