Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,871,290 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 352,199 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.5% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $820,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,645,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 16,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,331,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $167.24 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.97 and a 1 year high of $174.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.60.

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.