Sather Financial Group Inc Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sather Financial Group Inc cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,714 shares during the quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Denver PWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $179.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $207.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.81. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

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.