Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Lowered by Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC

Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,361 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,806 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.0% of Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,171,151,000 after purchasing an additional 6,157,413 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Alphabet by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,792,317,000 after buying an additional 4,694,621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 118,297 shares of company stock valued at $20,804,770. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $157.14 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.31. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group set a $190.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.51.

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.