Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $4.65 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,996 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.2% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in 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 increased its position in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $173.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.00 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $188.21 and a 200-day moving average of $176.54.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Ten 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. 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 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.