Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Sells 10,407 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 23.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 33,790 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,407 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.3% of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&G PLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,240,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after buying an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,488,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $927,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $185.43 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.40. The company has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

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.