Bank OZK Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Bank OZK reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,292 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.4% of Bank OZK’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Bank OZK’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,171,151,000 after purchasing an additional 6,157,413 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $513,024,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,154,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 26.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,064,598 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,669,300,000 after acquiring an additional 2,136,128 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $165.49 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $185.70 and its 200-day moving average is $176.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 twelve month low of $140.03 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Alphabet Company 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.