River Road Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,282 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,200 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $155.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.27 and a twelve month high of $161.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $147.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.87.

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.