Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 22.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,894 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 34,375 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $23,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advantage Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $388,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 997,791 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $190,019,000 after purchasing an additional 5,620 shares during the period. BOKF NA raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 333,488 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,420,000 after buying an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Brooks Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. grew its position in Alphabet by 82.4% during the fourth quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 59,000 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,236,000 after buying an additional 26,658 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 146,824 shares of company stock valued at $25,086,603. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 7.5 %

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $12.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $152.82. The company had a trading volume of 78,690,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,372,562. The company has a 50 day moving average of $161.59 and a 200 day moving average of $177.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. 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 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.94.

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.