Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Farallon Capital Management LLC

Farallon Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,080,540 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 330,000 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.0% of Farallon Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Farallon Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $396,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $1.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $154.38. 22,820,181 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,514,663. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $160.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.93. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total value of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $413,555,306.40. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $529,302.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. The trade was a 15.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.