Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 495,518,986 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,063,723 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.6% of Vanguard Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 4.05% of Alphabet worth $93,801,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,677 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,210,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 12,959 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 58,713 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,114,000 after purchasing an additional 4,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,441 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,598,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $5.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $145.60. 62,123,086 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,597,046. 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 50 day moving average of $175.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.38 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Westpark Capital upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % 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 valued at $21,089,470 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.