Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Cut by Concentric Capital Strategies LP

Concentric Capital Strategies LP lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 42.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,529 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 61,659 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 0.7% of Concentric Capital Strategies LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Concentric Capital Strategies LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $163.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $159.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.42. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total transaction of $529,302.32. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. The trade was a 15.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 146,824 shares of company stock worth $25,086,603 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.46.

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.

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