Highland Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Highland Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 153,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,551 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.7% of Highland Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $29,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. M&G PLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $2,240,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after buying an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after acquiring an additional 57,810 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $205.60 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $207.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $190.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.66. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 121,630 shares of company stock worth $22,258,133. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.