Conning Inc. Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Conning Inc. lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,395 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,345 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Veracity Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 8,238 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $156.00 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.27 and a twelve month high of $161.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 228,839 shares of company stock worth $32,835,757 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.