Parnassus Investments LLC Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Parnassus Investments LLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,459,206 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 717,593 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 4.4% of Parnassus Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Parnassus Investments LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Alphabet worth $1,979,928,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,864,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % 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 11,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $7.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $154.33. The company had a trading volume of 48,610,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,276,841. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $147.22 and a one year high of $207.05. The company's 50-day moving average price is $179.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.59.

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.