Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Axa S.A.

AXA S.A. trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,581,568 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 240,093 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.1% of AXA S.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $682,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,164 shares of company stock worth $25,357,390 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $3.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $165.81. 16,826,135 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,174,655. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $162.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.25. The company has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

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.