Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,231,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 53,077 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 3.6% of TCW Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $424,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 287.9% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $177.37 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $193.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 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 announced 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.