Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 930,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 19,449 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $177,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $171.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $160.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.63. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 112,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,722,605. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.94.

About Alphabet

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.