Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,077 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 319 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after buying an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $169.59 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.94.

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.