Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Cut by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 647,990 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 33,954 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.5% of Banco Santander S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $122,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $162.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.90 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.37. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. 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 0.49%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. 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. Wedbush increased their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

Alphabet 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.