Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Cannell & Spears LLC

Cannell & Spears LLC lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 419,353 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 50,232 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.6% of Cannell & Spears LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Cannell & Spears LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $79,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $4.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $157.14. The company had a trading volume of 33,590,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,202,345. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $168.52 and a 200 day moving average of $176.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.51.

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.