Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Cut by Ostrum Asset Management

Ostrum Asset Management lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 250,255 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 36,585 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 4.1% of Ostrum Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Ostrum Asset Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $47,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $24,383,677,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Alphabet by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after buying an additional 9,042,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after buying an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.3 %

GOOGL stock opened at $147.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.78. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

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, 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%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.