Smith Group Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 602 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its holdings 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 worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 32.3% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5 %

Alphabet stock opened at $205.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.55 and a 12 month high of $207.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.54. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 121,630 shares of company stock worth $22,258,133. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.