Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Trimmed by Motley Fool Asset Management LLC

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 461,587 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 14,637 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 4.8% of Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $65,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Evolution Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Evolution Advisers Inc. now owns 600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. VCI Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $363,000. Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its position in Alphabet by 4,516.1% during the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 93,568 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,187,000 after purchasing an additional 91,541 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 872.7% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 325,089 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,815,000 after purchasing an additional 291,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management raised its position in Alphabet by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 6,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on GOOG. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $165.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $173.69 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.42 and a twelve month high of $176.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Company 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.