LM Advisors LLC Sells 1,414 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

LM Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 134,579 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,414 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 4.3% of LM Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. LM Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 50.6% during the 4th quarter. Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. now owns 117,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,377,000 after purchasing an additional 39,500 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 73,447 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,987,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587 shares during the period. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $2,133,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 403,102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $76,767,000 after acquiring an additional 72,185 shares during the period. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,424,338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $271,251,000 after purchasing an additional 28,171 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $167.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.20 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $182.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Alphabet 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.