Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Holdings Lowered by Osterweis Capital Management Inc.

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 486,569 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,636 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 4.3% of Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $92,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $166,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 12.9% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 13,575 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $263,000. Finally, Advisory Resource Group boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 10,277 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,718,000 after buying an additional 822 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $2.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $153.36. 19,461,666 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,435,374. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $167.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $210.88.

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.