WD Rutherford LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

WD Rutherford LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 268 shares during the period. WD Rutherford LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $165.67.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.0 %

GOOG opened at $173.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $149.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.64, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.42 and a 52 week high of $176.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Company 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.