Donaldson Capital Management LLC Sells 4,679 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 27.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,080 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,679 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 61,587.1% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 130,046,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,539,004,000 after purchasing an additional 129,835,437 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 1,807.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 57,069,444 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,487,226,000 after buying an additional 54,077,519 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,059,614,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Alphabet by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 71,779,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,368,961,000 after buying an additional 19,612,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $156.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $147.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.61. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.27 and a 1 year high of $161.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.