Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Lowered by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,627 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 12,309 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.6% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $23,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $6.32 on Thursday, hitting $150.72. The stock had a trading volume of 45,980,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,457,403. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company's 50 day moving average price is $177.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - 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 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,297 shares of company stock worth $15,936,270 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet 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.