William Blair Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 830,704 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 111,906 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $157,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,171,151,000 after acquiring an additional 6,157,413 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,792,317,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694,621 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $513,024,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,154,651,000 after buying an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $154.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.72. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.22 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company 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.