Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Sells 21,246 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 520,521 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 21,246 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.3% of Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $98,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,824 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353 over the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

Alphabet stock opened at $166.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

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.