Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Hyperion Asset Management Ltd

Hyperion Asset Management Ltd cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 27.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 185,886 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 70,906 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.2% of Hyperion Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $35,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8%

GOOGL stock traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $159.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,634,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,138,473. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.22. 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:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.