Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 4,311 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,312 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,311 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $174.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.91. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.95 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.