Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 978,443 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 54,033 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.2% of Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $186,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,744 shares of company stock worth $20,968,366. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $167.87 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.74. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.94.

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.