Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by First Pacific Advisors LP

First Pacific Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,689,681 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 128,688 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 7.3% of First Pacific Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. First Pacific Advisors LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $509,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

GOOGL opened at $163.99 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $147.22 and a one year high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $182.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet 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.