Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $13.68 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,257 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 522 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.1% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in Alphabet by 518.8% during 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 buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $160.67 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $146.08 and a one year high of $207.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.56.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value 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 approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush boosted their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.03.

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.