Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Sustainable Growth Advisers LP

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,818 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 737 shares during the quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,048,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $7,934,000. Phillips Financial Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 6,869 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $3,502,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $170.56 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $181.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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