Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Decreased by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 28.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,062 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 34,954 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.3% of Graham Capital Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Greenline Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $61,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,915,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $398,424,000 after purchasing an additional 441,504 shares during the period. Full Sail Capital LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 11,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,195,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 128,317 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,290,000 after purchasing an additional 15,773 shares during the period. Finally, Elefante Mark B bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,491,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $152.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

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.