Sandy Spring Bank Sells 1,911 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sandy Spring Bank trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,629 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,911 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.1% of Sandy Spring Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Sandy Spring Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $26,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position 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 buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.13.

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Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $6.32 on Thursday, hitting $150.72. The company had a trading volume of 46,763,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,470,814. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $176.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.77. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.22 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued 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%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,297 shares of company stock worth $15,936,270 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.