Strategy Asset Managers LLC Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 82,137 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,651 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.0% of Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Community Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,741,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its holdings in Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,816,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Absolute Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $273,000. Finally, Glass Wealth Management Co LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 37,054 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Wedbush boosted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $146.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $174.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.82.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. Corporate 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.