Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Lowered by Lountzis Asset Management LLC

Lountzis Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 340 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 4.0% of Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Able Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,911 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 141,507 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,787,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 9,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. RW Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 2,741 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Advyzon Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $679,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $170.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $189.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.41.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. 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 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.