Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Tufton Capital Management

Tufton Capital Management trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 105,267 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 880 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.8% of Tufton Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. M&G PLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,240,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted 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 valued at $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 14,738 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $927,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $168.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $191.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.88. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.