Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 71,584 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 968 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.0% of Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $166.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $184.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.