Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 421,390 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 24,808 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $79,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in 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 worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.59.

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Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,368 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $7.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $154.33. 48,610,349 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,276,841. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G 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 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.