Ostrum Asset Management Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ostrum Asset Management trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,255 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 36,585 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 4.1% of Ostrum Asset Management's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Ostrum Asset Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $47,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth 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. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $229.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.64.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.8 %

GOOGL stock traded up $4.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $155.65. 31,085,145 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,347,312. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $163.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.61. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.