First Eagle Investment Management LLC Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,673,478 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,496 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.8% of First Eagle Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Alphabet worth $1,270,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $225,000. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. increased its stake in Alphabet by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 11,015 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,098,000 after buying an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. Postrock Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $5,283,000. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. now owns 105,959 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,178,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 79,071 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,058,000 after buying an additional 3,898 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three 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 a consensus price target of $209.13.

Remove Ads

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $164.73 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $187.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.13 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company'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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,882 shares of company stock worth $17,934,130 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.