Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 95.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,691 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 306,300 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,592,000 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. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,262 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 10,092,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,910,460,000 after acquiring an additional 348,335 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,282,564 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $621,389,000 after acquiring an additional 477,198 shares during the last quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $443,000. Finally, Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 90.3% in the 4th quarter. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP now owns 203,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,822,000 after purchasing an additional 96,328 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $145.60 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $175.15 and a 200-day moving average of $176.93. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $145.38 and a one year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. The trade was a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

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.