Financial Counselors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 406,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,227 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.1% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $77,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the 3rd 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 period. Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP grew its stake in 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 period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $172.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.44. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.