Ervin Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ervin Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,759 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 217 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.5% of Ervin Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Ervin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 8,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Financial Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the third quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $199.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.83. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $203.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. This represents a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total transaction of $3,990,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

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.