Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,472,484 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 10,038 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 5.5% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $280,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $1,843,149,000 after buying an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,261,000 after buying an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 210,657 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $35,220,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 591,000 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $98,809,000 after buying an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 821,450 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $137,338,000 after buying an additional 172,077 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.
In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
NASDAQ GOOG opened at $165.05 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.01 and a 52-week high of $208.70.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark restated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.13.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on GOOG
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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