Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Cut by GTS Securities LLC

GTS Securities LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 81.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,483 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 170,204 shares during the quarter. GTS Securities LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,376,066,000 after acquiring an additional 7,221,746 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in Alphabet by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.1%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $3.55 on Tuesday, reaching $173.14. The stock had a trading volume of 12,485,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,089,568. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $160.54 and a 200 day moving average of $176.49. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.