Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC Has $2.56 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,415 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 173 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.2% of Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of 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 trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $166.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $184.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced 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%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Alphabet 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.