First Eagle Investment Management LLC Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,342,282 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 804 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.4% of First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $632,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,171,151,000 after acquiring an additional 6,157,413 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Alphabet by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,792,317,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694,621 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $513,024,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.2 %

Alphabet stock opened at $165.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.22 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.