Dillon & Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Dillon & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,472 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 590 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.7% of Dillon & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Dillon & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 7.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $6,224,000. Towercrest Capital Management raised its position in Alphabet by 3.7% in the third quarter. Towercrest Capital Management now owns 4,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Truepoint Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 6.2% in the third quarter. Truepoint Inc. now owns 3,017 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $166.25 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $184.37 and a 200 day moving average of $178.22. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.20 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald 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 assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.