Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Reduced by London Co. of Virginia

London Co. of Virginia reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 973,143 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 21,452 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia's holdings in Alphabet were worth $185,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,606 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,353,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in Alphabet by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,032,321 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $196,595,000 after purchasing an additional 53,925 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,893 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,694,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $294,000. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $289,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.7%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $5.92 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $166.81. 31,717,334 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,637,478. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The firm's 50 day moving average is $160.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.86.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Benchmark reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five 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 price target of $203.94.

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.