Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,757 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 549 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after purchasing an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 valued at $22,154,651,000 after buying an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,615,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,581,427,000 after acquiring an additional 757,138 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,451,718 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,278,910,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218,639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research raised 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. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, 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. Ten equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.03.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $160.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $184.35 and its 200-day moving average is $176.56. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.08 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’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 transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.