Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 421,390 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 24,808 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $79,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 6,157,413 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Alphabet by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,792,317,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694,621 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $513,024,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $170.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. 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 12-month low of $147.22 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

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.