Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Cut by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,056,786 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 554,286 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.6% of ING Groep NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $389,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bennett Selby Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC increased 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $170.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.66 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $189.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.41. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares in the company, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

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.