Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,982 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 288 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.0% of Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Meritage Group LP grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 301.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 522 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. KeyCorp raised their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,280,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $380,389,234.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $380,389,234.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $167.24 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $149.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.97 and a 1 year high of $174.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

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.