Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Holdings Cut by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,928,189 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 170,766 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.5% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $835,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,548,095.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.0 %

GOOG stock traded up $15.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $173.69. 56,500,787 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,324,858. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.64, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.42 and a 12-month high of $176.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.