Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Lessened by Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.

Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 115,477 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,325 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 8.4% of Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3,586.8% in the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 361,788 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $66,359,000 after purchasing an additional 351,975 shares during the period. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Marathon Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marathon Capital Management now owns 11,320 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,076,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 18,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,477,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 624,862 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $114,612,000 after acquiring an additional 8,807 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $201.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $187.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $203.84.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GOOG. Barclays upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.13.

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.