D. Scott Neal Inc. Sells 242 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

D. Scott Neal Inc. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 242 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.4% of D. Scott Neal Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. D. Scott Neal Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&G PLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $2,240,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after acquiring an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Alphabet by 172.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,254,000 after acquiring an additional 57,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $194.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.55 and a 12 month high of $202.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

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.