Value Partners Investments Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 82.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,655 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 204,569 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.6% of Value Partners Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Value Partners Investments Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th 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. Finally, Denver PWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm's 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 completion of 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 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 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Stock Performance
Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $2.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $161.96. The stock had a trading volume of 55,957,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,435,946. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50 day moving average is $162.18 and its 200 day moving average is $175.43. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Bank of America increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.03.
View Our Latest Analysis on GOOGL
Alphabet Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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