Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Sather Financial Group Inc

Sather Financial Group Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,714 shares during the period. Sather Financial Group Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,910,838,000 after buying an additional 743,369 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,385 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,175,106,000 after purchasing an additional 523,416 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $179.66 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $192.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.81.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751 in the last quarter. Company 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.