Shikiar Asset Management Inc. Has $16.65 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Shikiar Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,452 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,105 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 4.4% of Shikiar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Shikiar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Atwater Malick LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 30,843 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,874,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 670 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,559 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 120,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,910,000 after buying an additional 16,410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Pivotal Research increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $197.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $202.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $185.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.