Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 394,504 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 21,999 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.7% of Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $74,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Alphabet by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total transaction of $529,302.32. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,815,948.32. The trade was a 15.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,652,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $413,555,306.40. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $152.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 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.