Senvest Management LLC Sells 75,100 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Senvest Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 333,429 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 75,100 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.0% of Senvest Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Senvest Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $63,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dagco Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Dagco Inc. now owns 6,866 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,364,000. Causeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 595,557 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $113,418,000 after acquiring an additional 34,841 shares during the last quarter. Defined Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $362,000. Finally, LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 199.8% in the fourth quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,951 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,228,000 after buying an additional 11,297 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOG. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.88.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade 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 115,663 shares of company stock valued at $20,286,447 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $2.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $153.36. The company had a trading volume of 19,461,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,413,783. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $167.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.58. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.