Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 4,227 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Financial Counselors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 406,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,227 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.1% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $77,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after acquiring an additional 14,738 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 57,810 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $172.79 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $183.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.44. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.20 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.