Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. Sells 22,250 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 52.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 22,250 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.0% of Harbert Fund Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Harbert Fund Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Family Office Research LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 9,608 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Alphabet by 45.8% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,233 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $996,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 30,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,903,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.33.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $155.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $171.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.