Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Trims Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 61,862 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 394 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.0% of Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,718,000 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 purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.33.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.51, for a total value of $33,722.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,081,655.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.51, for a total transaction of $33,722.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,081,655.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 251,378 shares of company stock worth $35,461,377. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $152.21. 8,876,932 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,928,201. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.29 and a 52-week high of $155.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $144.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.30. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.77 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.