Birch Capital Management LLC Has $5.91 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Birch Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,039 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.0% of Birch Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $33,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $0.35 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $197.61. 9,955,595 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,869,658. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $202.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $182.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

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.