Davis R M Inc. Has $28.15 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Davis R M Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 147,790 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 404 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,193,768,000 after buying an additional 5,655,022 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,247,208,000 after buying an additional 259,213 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after buying an additional 3,113,395 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,870,181,000 after buying an additional 875,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after buying an additional 1,291,274 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $167.81 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $189.36 and its 200-day moving average is $178.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.07 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

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.