Ameriprise Financial Inc. Trims Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,972,472 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 473,703 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.7% of Ameriprise Financial Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.12% of Alphabet worth $2,851,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $166.05. 15,291,571 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,159,189. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $162.07 and its 200-day moving average is $177.25. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. This trade represents a 15.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 146,824 shares of company stock valued at $25,086,603. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.