Tran Capital Management L.P. Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Tran Capital Management L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 102,063 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,108 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.1% of Tran Capital Management L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Tran Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,741,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6%

GOOGL traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $174.67. 27,636,835 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,440,616. The firm's fifty day moving average is $162.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.64. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. 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 market cap of $2.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid 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 is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

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.