Qtron Investments LLC Sells 3,783 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Qtron Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 61,208 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,783 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.6% of Qtron Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Qtron Investments LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $159.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.89. 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:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.