Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,796 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,950 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. SPC Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $287,000. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $385,000. RiverFront Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 14.0% in the second quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 214,555 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $39,354,000 after buying an additional 26,430 shares in the last quarter. Farmers National Bank lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 91.9% during the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 8,927 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,637,000 after buying an additional 4,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $607,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $197.18 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $203.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total transaction of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 122,887 shares of company stock worth $22,470,464. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.