Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Lazard Asset Management LLC's 4th Largest Position

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 24.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,421,657 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,745,035 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.3% of Lazard Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Alphabet worth $1,594,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after buying an additional 7,574,417 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $152.75 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average is $158.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.27. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. On average, 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at $413,555,306.40. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

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.

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