Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Position Reduced by Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd

Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 33.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,843 shares during the quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,894,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,606 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,870,181,000 after purchasing an additional 875,480 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,166,070,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,483,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,615,516,000 after buying an additional 144,170 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $158.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.20 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $179.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 88,665 shares of company stock valued at $16,198,310. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.65.

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.