Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 117,700 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,374,720 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 117,700 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.5% of Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $833,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 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. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,685,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $419,320,207.36. This represents a 1.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $153.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $165.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.32. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

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.