Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by TCI Fund Management Ltd.

TCI Fund Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,507,056 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 420,000 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 7.4% of TCI Fund Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. TCI Fund Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.13% of Alphabet worth $3,143,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,606 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,353,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,044 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the last quarter. R.H. Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,452,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its stake in Alphabet by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 2,908 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 65,288 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,433,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.9%

GOOG stock traded up $4.74 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $170.06. 45,482,280 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,906,582. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $160.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.66. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13, a PEG 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.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 129,744 shares of company stock valued at $20,968,366 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOG. UBS Group cut 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. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.94.

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.