Sanctuary Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 469,708 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,740 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.6% of Sanctuary Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $95,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its stake 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 valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,609 shares of company stock worth $21,809,990 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $5.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $181.58. The company had a trading volume of 19,447,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,667,480. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.