Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 36.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,614 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 43,727 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP boosted its position in Alphabet by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 3,392 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 832,818 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $157,652,000 after purchasing an additional 13,920 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 112,992 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $21,389,000 after purchasing an additional 7,672 shares during the period. Finally, Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC now owns 5,658 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $170.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. 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 fifty-two week low of $130.66 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $190.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.11.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity 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 transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,309 shares of company stock worth $25,057,490 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

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.