Optas LLC Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Optas LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,903 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 3.9% of Optas LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Optas LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 80,246,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,309,370,000 after purchasing an additional 862,550 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,101,040,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,800,413 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,058,842,000 after purchasing an additional 481,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 28,558,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,024,679,000 after purchasing an additional 813,428 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.86.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,026 shares of company stock valued at $24,026,243 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $183.42 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.83 and a 12 month high of $187.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

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.