GEM Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

GEM Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 67 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of GEM Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. GEM Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Jmac Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 29,894 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,659,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,088 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 94,119 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,817,000 after buying an additional 7,119 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush raised their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $179.66 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $192.46 and a 200-day moving average of $175.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % 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, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % 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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% 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.