Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,460,992 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 32,757 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.8% of Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $244,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd 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. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Five 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $170.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.40 and a 52 week high of $193.31. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.85.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio 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.