Howard Capital Management Group LLC Sells 1,100 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Howard Capital Management Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,752,699 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $504,900,000 after purchasing an additional 65,058 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.4% in the second quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,404,515 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $257,616,000 after purchasing an additional 59,515 shares during the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $2,628,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 407.8% in the second quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $199.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.47, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $186.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.06. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $203.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

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.