Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Sells 2,351 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,582 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,351 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.4% of Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,910,838,000 after acquiring an additional 743,369 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,615,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,581,427,000 after purchasing an additional 757,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,451,718 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,278,910,000 after buying an additional 1,218,639 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $154.33 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.92. The company has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

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.