Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Cohen Klingenstein LLC

Cohen Klingenstein LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 242,220 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 29,040 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.6% of Cohen Klingenstein LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Cohen Klingenstein LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $46,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Beck Bode LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 7.1% during the second quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 67,523 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,385,000 after buying an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 21.3% during the second quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,524 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,847,000 after purchasing an additional 2,722 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 11.1% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,144,221 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $209,873,000 after purchasing an additional 113,916 shares during the period. Circle Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 71,983 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,203,000 after purchasing an additional 9,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 153,311 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,120,000 after buying an additional 11,998 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm'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 owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $197.55 on Monday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $185.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.85. The firm 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 fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $202.88. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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