Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,149 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 936 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.0% of Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James raised their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.86.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $159.92 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.27 and a fifty-two week high of $161.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.