Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 6,786 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 501,254 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,786 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.1% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $95,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 5,950 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Founders Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 11,391 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,169,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 54,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,399,000 after acquiring an additional 10,220 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 301,072 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,336,000 after acquiring an additional 2,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $76,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $1.68 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $191.49. 7,463,960 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,600,424. The company’s 50 day moving average is $184.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.45. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $202.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 154,387 shares of company stock valued at $27,748,931 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

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.