Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Abrams Capital Management L.P.'s 4th Largest Position

Abrams Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,124,130 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 56,935 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 6.5% of Abrams Capital Management L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Abrams Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $402,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 45,541 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,621,000 after buying an additional 5,793 shares in the last quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,481,000. Parker Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. Parker Investment Management LLC now owns 309,437 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $58,577,000 after buying an additional 87,676 shares during the last quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO lifted its stake in Alphabet by 187.2% in the 4th quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 4,113 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clare Market Investments LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $17,713,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL traded down $2.82 during trading on Thursday, hitting $162.24. 24,457,915 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,900,177. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.22 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $181.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business 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 0.49%. The ex-dividend date 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 200 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.