Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,010 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 462 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.1% of Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 494,220 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $94,119,000 after acquiring an additional 8,931 shares in the last quarter. Northstar Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 102,418 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,504,000 after buying an additional 1,243 shares during the period. Arcataur Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 10,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 222,749 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,420,000 after buying an additional 7,124 shares during the period. Finally, Realta Investment Advisors boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 31,602 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,103,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $187.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.