Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Baskin Financial Services Inc.

Baskin Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 358,261 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,696 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 5.4% of Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $68,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 7,583 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,268,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,403 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 313,837 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,470,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 18,156 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,035,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 83,762 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Oppenheimer lifted 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $193.31 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $192.33 and a 200 day moving average of $176.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.