River Road Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 57.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,883 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 117,973 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark restated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.13.

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Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $165.98 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $188.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.21 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 97,182 shares of company stock worth $18,192,354 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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