Torray Investment Partners LLC Sells 8,443 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Torray Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 169,561 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 8,443 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.6% of Torray Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Torray Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $164.29 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.08 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.58.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.