Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Trimmed by Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC

Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,635,935 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 358,011 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 12.1% of Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,073,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.16 on Monday, hitting $156.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,568,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,886,863. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The stock's 50-day moving average is $181.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.69.

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Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 87,992 shares of company stock valued at $16,097,111 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Benchmark restated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.56.

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.