Whitener Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. M&G PLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,240,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 57,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,624,000 after buying an additional 5,892 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $197.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $185.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.93. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $202.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

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.