Logan Capital Management Inc. Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Logan Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,452 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,679 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Logan Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Logan Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $26,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optivise Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,741,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its stake in Alphabet by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,816,000 after buying an additional 14,262 shares during the last quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $273,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $152.75 on Monday. 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 capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.27. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,824 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,948.32. The trade was a 15.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

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.