Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Lessened by LGT Capital Partners LTD.

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,254,923 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 108,710 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 9.0% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $237,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.1% in the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in Alphabet by 6.8% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 728,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $120,834,000 after purchasing an additional 46,677 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the period. Lewis Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 6.8% in the third quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 9,371 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 42.8% in the third quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,889 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $163.99 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $182.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.38. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) 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 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

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.