Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC Adjusts Stake in Alphabet Inc.

Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC has recently decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, as revealed in their latest Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Following this adjustment, the firm holds a total of 5,635,935 shares of Alphabet's stocks, having sold 358,011 shares in this timeframe. Alphabet now constitutes about 12.1% of Gardner Russo & Quinn’s total investment portfolio, making it their second-largest holding. As per their most recent SEC filing, Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC’s investments in Alphabet are valued at approximately $1,073,307,000.

Institutional Investors Involvement

Other institutional investors have also made moves regarding Alphabet’s shares. For instance, Weiss Asset Management LP made a new investment in Alphabet during the third quarter, estimated to be around $25,000. Another firm, Fiduciary Advisors Inc., acquired a new stake in Alphabet worth approximately $27,000 during the fourth quarter. Other notable recent investments include Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC, which invested about $33,000 in the third quarter, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC, which bought shares valued around $38,000 in the fourth quarter, and Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp., which also acquired a position in Alphabet worth approximately $39,000. Currently, around 27.26% of Alphabet’s stock is held by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions

In additional news related to insider transactions at Alphabet, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,368 shares on January 2nd at an average price of $191.55, totaling $262,040.40. Post-sale, O'toole maintains ownership of 20,681 shares, with a collective value around $3,961,445.55, marking a 6.20% decrease in her stake. The sales were formally disclosed in a filing with the SEC. Similarly, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares on March 13th at an average price of $165.53, amounting to $33,106.00. This transaction reduced his holdings to 7,813 shares valued at approximately $1,293,285.89, reflecting a 2.50% decline in ownership. In total, insiders have sold 104,812 shares worth about $19,336,979 over the last three months, with insiders currently owning around 12.99% of the stock.

Analyst Opinions

Several analysts have shared their perspectives on Alphabet’s stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" recommendation in a note dated February 5th, while Rosenblatt Securities maintained a "neutral" rating in their report on March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group also reissued a "buy" rating on the same date. Wedbush set a price target of $220.00 for Alphabet in a note released on January 30th, and Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on the stock as well. In summary, analysts have issued varying opinions, with one rating a sell, six a hold, fourteen a buy, and three a strong buy, leading to a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.56.

Stock Performance Overview

The stock opened at $156.06 recently. Alphabet's financial ratios include a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84, and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company boasts a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, and a price-to-earnings growth ratio of 1.34, along with a beta of 1.03. Its 50-day simple moving average stands at $181.53, while the 200-day is at $178.31. Throughout the past year, Alphabet Inc.'s stock has seen a low point of $148.20 and a high of $208.70.

Recent Earnings and Dividend Information

Alphabet announced its quarterly earnings on February 4th, reporting an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.15, surpassing analysts' predictions of $2.12 by $0.03. The company recorded a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts project an EPS of 8.89 for the ongoing fiscal year. Additionally, Alphabet has disclosed a quarterly dividend paid on March 17th, amounting to $0.20 for investors recorded on March 10th. With an annualized dividend of $0.80, this represents a yield of 0.51% with a payout ratio of 9.94%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. operates various products and services globally through its segments: Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. The Google Services segment includes offerings such as advertisements, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, search, and YouTube.

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