Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Financial Avengers Inc.

Financial Avengers Inc. cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 89,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 8.0% of Financial Avengers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Financial Avengers Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $165.32 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.66.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 129,744 shares of company stock worth $20,968,366. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.