Marshall Wace LLP Sells 1,090,519 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 40.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,621,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,090,519 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $308,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.7 %

GOOG opened at $158.68 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $169.17 and a 200 day moving average of $177.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,544.70. This represents a 2.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 115,663 shares of company stock worth $20,286,447. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.71.

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.