Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,960,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 30,260 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.5% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $373,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Madison Wealth Partners Inc increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 2,015 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. DecisionMap Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $740,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 28,144 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,360,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stelac Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Stelac Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,736 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,996,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,682 shares of company stock valued at $17,901,024 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $169.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

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.