Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 1,012,955 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Primecap Management Co. CA decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,379,775 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,012,955 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.7% of Primecap Management Co. CA’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,167,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 287.9% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.57 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.01 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $186.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.