Driehaus Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 53.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,410 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,967 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $5.71 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $158.46. 44,064,211 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,840,054. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The business's 50-day moving average is $158.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.27.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. 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 0.53%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total transaction of $529,302.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. The trade was a 15.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.