Successful Portfolios LLC Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Successful Portfolios LLC lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,344 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 630 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.2% of Successful Portfolios LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Successful Portfolios LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,113 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,545,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $3,617,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 42,397 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares during the period. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $261,000. Finally, Ballast Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 4,736 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $199.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $203.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.