GS Investments Inc. Has $1.78 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

GS Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,365 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. GS Investments Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 46.0% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 29,629 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,000 after purchasing an additional 9,329 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 36,472 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,946,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 207,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $39,519,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,056,116 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $391,567,000 after acquiring an additional 12,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Next Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 7,862 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $166.28 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.67 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 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.