Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,887 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 867 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 4.0% of Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 5,655,022 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 3,113,395 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Alphabet by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,052,349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500,621 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 182.1% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $422,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,701 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.1% in the 3rd 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 period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $181.58 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.