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

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,305 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geometric Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geometric Wealth Advisors now owns 6,212 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Wallace Hart LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $191,000. SoundView Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $3,619,000. Miller Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $1,498,000. Finally, Global View Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $165.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $138.21 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $188.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned 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 $209.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 97,182 shares of company stock worth $18,192,354. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.