Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Shikiar Asset Management Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Shikiar Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,915 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 720 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 5.2% of Shikiar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Shikiar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after purchasing an additional 9,703,425 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $11,600,970,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,852,868,000 after purchasing an additional 4,348,188 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 198.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,882,882 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $547,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583,128 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 93.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,591,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $647,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,950 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of 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 shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $157.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 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 fifty-two week low of $103.27 and a fifty-two week high of $161.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $147.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

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.