HMS Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

HMS Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,851 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 343 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.4% of HMS Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. HMS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Denver PWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $66,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $179.66 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.93. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Alphabet

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.