Magellan Asset Management Ltd decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 960,259 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 89,284 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.0% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Magellan Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $182,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,894,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,606 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,870,181,000 after acquiring an additional 875,480 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $5,166,070,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,483,070 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,615,516,000 after purchasing an additional 144,170 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 87,297 shares of company stock valued at $15,936,270. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %
Alphabet stock traded down $4.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $147.74. 39,777,547 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,038,383. The business has a fifty day moving average of $178.12 and a 200 day moving average of $178.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.24 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research 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 given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.65.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alphabet
Alphabet Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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