Sculptor Capital LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sculptor Capital LP cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 268,600 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 59,500 shares during the quarter. Sculptor Capital LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $50,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after buying an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,533 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,455,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. R.H. Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $1,475,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total value of $5,066,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at $413,555,306.40. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group set a $195.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $166.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $158.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

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, 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 business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.

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