Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P

Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,801 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,958 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.5% of Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $164.08 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70. 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 $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $182.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.