Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's 5th Largest Position

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,420,835 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 45,287 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.0% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $270,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its position in Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of GOOG traded up $3.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $197.55. The company had a trading volume of 21,974,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,381,408. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $202.88. The company's fifty day moving average price is $185.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.93.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.