Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by US Asset Management LLC

US Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 555 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 3.8% of US Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. US Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $170.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $158.42 and a 200-day moving average of $174.89. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,054 shares of company stock worth $17,722,605 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

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.