Shell Asset Management Co. Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Shell Asset Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 233,708 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,593 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.9% of Shell Asset Management Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Shell Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $44,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,001,738 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $190,771,000 after buying an additional 11,842 shares during the last quarter. Southport Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,143,000. Sphera Funds Management LTD. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,284,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 475,479 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $90,550,000 after acquiring an additional 42,866 shares during the period. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,830,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded down $1.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $166.07. 18,078,500 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,356,807. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day moving average price is $160.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $413,555,306.40. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 129,744 shares of company stock worth $20,968,366 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.