Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 126,627 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 12,309 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.6% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $23,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares in the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 65,586 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,877,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 4.9% in the third quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,968 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,975,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the third quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,305 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,699,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidemark LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidemark LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.49.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 88,665 shares of company stock worth $16,198,310. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $157.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.09. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $147.22 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued 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 0.51%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.