Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Holdings Cut by Shapiro Capital Management LLC

Shapiro Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 534,203 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 31,980 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 3.5% of Shapiro Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Shapiro Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $101,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $281,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 140.6% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,734 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,806,000 after acquiring an additional 8,610 shares during the period. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $927,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.94.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $165.40 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $160.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total value of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at $413,555,306.40. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353 in the last quarter. 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.