AdvisorNet Financial Inc Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,708 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,014 shares during the quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,892 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,645,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 16,036 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $827,000. Courier Capital LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 91,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,379,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 292,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $55,666,000 after buying an additional 94,962 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total transaction of $3,990,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,672,512.16. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 130,553 shares of company stock valued at $23,817,951. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $191.05 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $184.95 and its 200 day moving average is $174.55. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $202.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.34, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

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.