Vantage Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Vantage Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 322,868 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,588 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 5.4% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Vantage Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $61,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,193,768,000 after acquiring an additional 5,655,022 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,247,208,000 after purchasing an additional 259,213 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after buying an additional 1,291,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,843,149,000 after buying an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5 %

GOOG traded up $2.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $205.60. The stock had a trading volume of 17,059,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,222,196. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $189.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $207.08. 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 posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company'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 directly owns 16,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 121,630 shares of company stock valued at $22,258,133. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.69.

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.