Charter Research & Investment Group Inc. Sells 1,415 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Charter Research & Investment Group Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,680 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,415 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.0% of Charter Research & Investment Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Charter Research & Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 4.9 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $156.06 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $148.20 and a one year high of $208.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $181.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.56.

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.